John  Swett 


, 


••<x   y    * 

•  • 


I 


us      123  •      I2i       us        n7        us        113        in 


UNITED   STAT 

AREA: 

ACQUISITION   AND  TRANSFER 

OF  TERRITORY. 

1780  to  1870. 

FROM  U.S.  CENSUS  REPORT,  l8?O 


YOUNG   FOLKS' 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


BY 


THOMAS  WENTWORTH   HIGGINSON, 

AUTHOR  OF  "ATLANTIC  ESSAYS,"  "ARMY  LIFE  IN  A  BLACK  REGIMENT," 
"MALBONE,"  ETC. 


BlustratcU. 


BOSTON : 
LEE  AND  SHEPARD,  PUBLISHERS. 

NEW  YORK: 
CHARLES  T.  DILLINGHAM. 


Hfc 


COPYRIGHT. 

THOMAS  WENTWORTH  HIGGINSON. 
A.D.    1875. 


FRANKLIN    PRESS; 

RAND,    AVERY,    AND   COMPANT, 

H7    FRANKLIN   STREET, 

BOSTON. 


PREFACE. 


IT  is  the  aim  of  this  book  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
United  States  in  a  clear  and  simple  manner,  for 
young  and  old.  In  writing  it,  I  have  adopted  two  plain 
rules, — to  omit  all  names  and  dates  not  really  needful, 
and  to  make  libe"al  use  of  the  familiar  traits  and  inci 
dents  of  every  d^y.  If  there  is  any  merit  in  the  design, 
it  belongs  largely  to  my  honored  friend,  George  B. 
Emerson,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  from  whom  the  first  sugges 
tion  of  the  work  came,  and  by  whose  kind  co-operation 
it  has  been  carried  through.  I  am  indebted,  also,  to 
Rev.  George  E.  Ellis,  D.D.,  to  Richard  Frothingham, 
Esq.,  and  to  Francis  Parkman,  Esq.,  for  valuable  hints 
and  criticisms ;  and  to  Rev.  J.  G.  Palfrey,  D.D.,  and 
the  Maine  Historical  Society,  for  permission  to  use 
important  maps,  originally  engraved  for  them. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  less  space  than  usual  is  given, 
in  these  pages,  to  the  events  of  war,  and  more  to  the 
affairs  of  peace.  This  course  has  been  deliberately 
pursued.  It  is  desirable,  no  doubt,  that  the  reader 

54! £6 3  m 


IV  PREFACE. 

should  fally  Understand  the  way  in  which  every  impor- 
.tojtj  >V'a^r  ,c  b^gaii  ^,nd  \snded,  and  that  he  should  read 
enough  of  the  details  to  know  in  what  spirit  it  was 
carried  on.  Beyond  this,  the  statistics  of  sieges  and 
battles  are  of  little  value,  and  are  apt  to  make  us  forget 
that  the  true  glory  of  a  nation  lies,  after  all,  in  orderly 
progress.  Times  of  peace,  the  proverb  says,  have  few 
historians ;  but  this  may  be  more  the  fault  of  the  histo 
rians  than  of  the  times.  T.  W.  H. 

NEWPORT,  R.I.,  Jan.  i.,  1875. 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PACK 

I.  The  Earliest  Inhabitants I 

II.  The  Mound-Builders 5 

III.  The  American  Indians IT, 

IV.  The  Coming  of  the  Northmen 25 

V.  The  Coming  of  Columbus          ......     31 

VI.  The  Successors  of  Columbus      ......     40 

VII.  How  America  was  explored  and  settled       .         .         .         .46 

VIII.  The  Massachusetts  Colonies 55 

IX.  The  other  New  England  Colonies 65 

X.  Colonial  Days  in  New  England 74 

XI.  Old  Dutch  Times  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey         .        .    88 

XII.  The  Friends  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  Swedes  in  Delaware     101 

XIII.  The  Old  Dominion  and  Maryland      .        .        .        .        .no 

XIV.  The  Southern  Colonies 124 

XV.  The  Indian  Wars 131 

XVI.  The  French  and  Indian  Ware 142 

XVII.  The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution 159 

XVIII.  Concord,  Lexington,  and  Bunker  Hill        .        .        .        .178 

XIX.  Washington  takes  Command 188 

XX.  The  Declaration  of  Independence *94 

XXI.  The  Remainder  of  the  War 202 

XXII.  After  the  War 214 

XXIII.  Washington  and  Adams 220 

XXIV.  Jefferson's  Administration 235 

XXV.  Madison  and  Monroe,  the  War  of  1812,  and  the  Era  of 

Good  Feeling 248 

XXVI.  Adams  and  Jackson.  —  Internal  Improvements.  —  Nullifi 
cation  and  the  Antislavery  Movement     ....  259 
XXVII.  Van  Buren,  Harrison,  Tyler,  and  the  Annexation  of  Texas  267 
XXVIII.  Polk  and  the  Mexican  War         ....  .273 

v 


Vi  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  \y    c  ^  i  PAGB 

*XXIX.  The 'Approach  of  the  Civil  War.— Taylor,  Fillmore,  and 

t*  vj  ;V!fB»erce  /-    '..*• 280 

"  XXXVTh^bpeiihi£\)f>the  Civil  War.  —  Buchanan        .        .        .286 

XXXI.  The  Civil  War.— Lincoln    .  .  293 

XXXII.  After  the  Civil  War.  — Grant 3:2 

APPENDIX. 

I.  Books  for  Consultation 331 

II.  List  of  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents 337 

III.  List  of  States  and  Territories     .......  338 

IV.  Area  of  the  United  States  .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .339 

V.  Declaration  of  Independence      .......  340 

VI.  Constitution  of  the  United  States 345 

INDEX       ...........        .  363 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    EARLIEST    INHABITANTS. 

WHO  were  the  very  first  men  and  women  that 
ever  trod  the  soil  of  North  America  ?  Of  what 
race  were  they,  of  what  color,  of  what  size  ?  and  how 
did  they  look?  History  cannot  answer  these  questions. 
Science  can  only  say,  "  Perhaps  we  shall  find  out ;  but 
we  do  not  yet  know." 

We  know  already  a  good  deal  about  the  changes  in 
form  and  appearance  of  the  North- American  Continent 
itself.  We  know  that  a  large  part  of  it  was  at  one 
time  covered  with  a  thick  coating  of  ice,  and  that  this 
vast  glacier  several  times  stretched  itself  farther  south 
ward,  as  the  climate  grew  colder,  and  then  shrank  to 
smaller  size  again,  as  the  climate,  during  unknown 
ages,  grew  milder.  We  know  that  the  whole  surface  of 
the  continent  has  risen  or  sunk,  irregularly,  at  various 
times ;  so  that  the  sea  once  covered  much  that  is  now 
dry  land.  We  know  that  plants  and  animals  of  species 
now  unknown  have  existed  in  many  parts  of  the  conti 
nent.  The  reindeer,  which  is  now  found  only  in  the  far 


2  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNTITED    STATES. 

' -north,  t)nCe  roained  as  far  south  as  Kentucky.  The 
,  monkey >  which  > is 'rvow  found  in  South  America,  was 
ohce  an :  inhabitant  of  North  America  also.  The  rhi 
noceros  is  now  found  only  in  Asia  and  Africa ;  but  sev 
eral  distinct  species  once  existed  in  North  America, 
one  of  these  being  as  large  as  an  elephant.  There 
were,  at  least,  five  different  species  of  camel,  some  of 
them  reaching  a  very  large  size.  Wild  horses,  or  horse- 
like  animals,  of  at  least  thirty  different  species,  have  al; 
different  times  galloped  or  grazed  in  North  America, 
though  the  first  European  explorers  did  not  find  a  sin 
gle  species  surviving.  Some  of  these  had  three  toes  on 
each  foot,  some  had  four,  instead  of  the  solid  hoofs  of 
our  present  horses  ;  and  there  were  cloven-footed  ani 
mals  no  larger  than  squirrels ;  while  others,  again,  were 
as  large  as  elephants.  There  were  also  gigantic  animals 
of  the  sloth  family,  and,  in  short,  a  great  variety  of 
quadrupeds  now  unknown.  No  written  history  tells  of 
them  ;  we  do  not  know  whether  human  eyes  ever  saw 
most  of  them  :  but  there  are  the  bones  in  the  soil ;  and 
new  explorations,  especially  in  Colorado,  are  constantly 
bringing  more  and  more  species  to  the  light. 

But  most  remarkable  among  all  these  fossil  animals 
were  two  great  quadrupeds  akin  to  the  elephant,  and 
called  the  "mammoth"  and  the  "mastodon."  They 
once  went  trampling  through  the  forests,  tearing  down 
the  branches  of  trees  for  food ;  and  they  sometimes 
sank  and  died  in  the  swamps,  unable  to  move  their 
huge  weight  out  of  the  mire.  They  were  ten  or  twelve 
feet  high  (taller  than  any  living  elephant)  ;  and  their 
tusks  have  been  found  eleven  feet  long.  We  know 
their  shape  and  size  and  appearance  ;  and  we  know 


4  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

that  their  race  must  have  existed  on  the  soil  of  North 
America  for  thousands  of  years.  Whether  men  lived 
at  the  same  time  with  them  on  the  American  Conti 
nent,  we  do  not  know  with  certainty:  yet  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  it  was  so.  In  France  there  have 
been  found  rude  drawings  of  the  mammoth,  made  by 
men  on  ivory  and  slate,  and  mingled  with  remains 
of  extinct  animals  in  caves.  In  America  no  such  pos 
itive  proofs  have  been  discovered ;  but  'human  bones 
and  flint  implements  have  been  found  mingled  with 
these  animal  remains.  It  is  very  possible  that  the 
mammoth  and  the  mastodon  were  gradually  destroyed 
by  men.  In  Southern  Africa  all  the  men  of  a  village 
go  out  to  hunt  an  elephant ;  and,  in  spite  of  his  great 
size,  they  kill  him  with  bows  and  arrows.  So  it  is  pos 
sible  that  the  flint  implements  found  with  the  bones  of 
these  larger  quadrupeds  may  be  the  very  knives  and 
arrow-heads  that  killed  them  ;  and  perhaps  this  is  all 
that  ever  will  be  known  of  the  way  in  which  that  mighty 
race  disappeared  from  the  surface  of  the  earth.  But, 
at  any  rate,  the  mastodons  and  mammoths  perished  at 
last ;  and  the  men  and  women  who  had  looked  on  them 
passed  away  likewise,  leaving  only  obscure  and  scat 
tered  memorials  of  themselves. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    MOUND-BUILDERS. 

AFTER  the  last  mammoth  was  slain,  it  is  very 
probable  that  many  centuries  passed  before  the 
Mound-Builders  came  to  occupy  the  soil  where  these 
animals  had  been.  The  Mound-Builders  were  a  race 
of  men  who  never  saw  the  mammoth,  we  may  be  very 
sure ;  or  else  they  would  have  carved  or  painted  its 
likeness,  as  they  did  those  of  the  birds  and  beasts  they 
knew.  But,  though  they  made  pictures  of  these  crea 
tures,  they  unfortunately  did  not  make  equally  distinct 
pictures  of  themselves;  so 
that  we  do  not  know  what 
they  looked  like  ;  and,  as  they 
wrote  no  books,  we  do  not 
know  what  language  they 
spoke.  All  that  we  know  of 
them  is  from  the  wonderful 
works  of  industry  and  skill 
that  they  left  behind,  and  es 
pecially  from  certain  great 
mounds  of  earth  they  built. 
It  is  from  these  great  works 
that  they  derive  their  name.  THE  SERPENT  MOUND. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  mounds  is  to 

5 


6  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

be  seen  in  Adams  County,  Ohio.  It  represents  an 
immense  snake  a  thousand  feet  long,  and  five  feet 
thick,  lying  along  a  bluff  that  rises  above  a  stream. 
There  you  can  trace  all  the  curves  and  outlines  of  the 
snake,  ending  in  a  tail  with  a  triple  coil.  In  the  open 
mouth,  something  in  the  shape  of  an  egg  seems  to  be 
held  ;  and  this  egg-shaped  mound  is  one  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  long.  This  shows  on  what  a  vast  scale 
these  earth-works  are  constructed.  Sometimes  they 
are  shaped  like  animals,  sometimes  like  men.  In  some 
places  there  are  fortifications,  often  enclosing  one  or 
two  acres  of  ground,  sometimes  even  four  hundred 
acres.  Sometimes  these  earth-works  have  from  four 
teen  to  sixteen  miles  of  embankment.  In  other  places, 
there  are  many  small  mounds,  arranged  in  a  straight 
line,  at  distances  nearly  equal,  and  extending  for  many 
miles.  These  are  supposed  to  have  been  used  for  send 
ing  signals  from  station  to  station  across  the  country. 
Then,  in  other  places,  there  are  single  mounds,  some 
times  sixty  feet  high,  sometimes  ninety,  with  steps  cut 
in  the  earth  upon  one  side,  leading  up  to  the  top,  which 
is  fiat,  and  sometimes  includes  from  one  to  five  acres 
of  ground. 

These  mounds  are  scattered  all  down  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  along  many  of  its  tributary  streams. 
There  are  thousands  of  them,  large  or  small,  within  the 
single  State  of  Ohio.  They  are  not  made  of  earth  alone, 
for  some  of  them  show  brick-work  and  stpne-work  here 
and  there,  though  earth  is  always  the  chief  material. 
Some  of  them  have  chambers  within,  and  the  remains 
of  wooden  walls ;  and  sometimes  charred  wood  is 
found  on  top,  as  if  fires  had  been  kindled  there.  This 


THE   MOUND-BUILDERS.  7 

fact  is  very  important,  as  it  helps  us  to  understand  the 
purpose  of  the  higher  mounds  ;  for  in  Central  America 
there  are  similar  mounds,  except  that  those  have  on 
their  tops  the  remains  of  stone  temples  and  palaces.  So 
it  is  supposed  that  the  higher  mounds  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  may  have  been  built  for  purposes  of  worship  ; 


THE   HOPETON   WORKS,    IN    OHIO. 

and  that,  although  their  summits  are  now  bare,  yet  the 
charred  wood  may  be  the  remains  of  sacrificial  fires,  or 
of  wooden  temples  that  were  burned  long  ago.  x  \ 

It  is  certain  that  these  Mound-Builders  were  in  sbme 
ways  well  advanced  in  civilization.  All  their  earth 
works  show  more  or  less  of  engineering  skill.  They 


8 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


vary  greatly  in  shape  :  they  show  the  square,  the  circle, 
the  octagon,  the  ellipse ;  and  sometimes  all  these  fig 
ures  are  combined  in  one  series  of  works.  But  the 
circle  is  always  a  true  circle,  and  the  square  a  true 
square ;  and,  moreover,  there  are  many  squares  that 
measure  exactly  one  thousand  and  eighty  feet  on  a  side, 
and  this  shows  that  the  Mound-Builders  had  some  defi 
nite  standard  of  measurement. 


GRADED   WAY   IN    OHIO. 


There  have  been  found  in  these  mounds  many  tools 
and  ornaments,  made  of  copper,  silver,  and  valuable 
stones.  There  are  axes,  chisels,  knives,  bracelets,  and 
beads;  there  are  pieces  of  thread  and  of  cloth;  and 


THE    MOUND-BUILDERS. 


gracefully  ornamented  vases  of  pottery.     The  Mound- 
Builders  knew  how  to  model  in  clay  a  variety  of  objects, 
such    as   birds,   quadrupeds, 
and    human    faces.     They 
practised  farming,  though 
they  had  no  domestic  ani- 


VASES    FROM    THE    MOUNDS. 


mals  to  help  them.  They  had  neither  horses  nor  oxen 
nor  carts ;  so  that  all  the  vast  amount  of  earth  required 
for  these  mounds  must  have  been  carried  in  baskets 
or  skins  ;  and  this  shows 
that  their  population 
must  have  been  very  nu 
merous,  or  they  never 
could  have  attempted  so 
much.  They  mined  for 
copper  near  Lake  Supe 
rior,  where  their  deserted 
mines  may  still  be  seen. 
In  one  of  these  mines, 
there  is  a  mass  of  copper 
weighing  nearly  six  tons,  partly  raised  from  the  bottom, 
and  supported  on  wooden  logs,  now  nearly  decayed. 


ANCIENT    MINING   SHAFT. 


10  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 

It  was  evidently  being  removed  to  the  top  of  the  mine, 
nearly  thirty  feet  above ;  and  the  stone  and  copper 
tools  of  the  miners  were  found  lying  about,  as  if  the 
men  had  just  gone  away. 

Now,  when  did  this  ancient  race  of  Mound-Builders 
live  ?  There  is  not  a  line  of  their  writing  left,  so  far 
as  is  now  known ;  nor  is  there  any  distinct  tradition 
about  them.  But  there  is  one  sure  proof  that  they  lived 
very  long  ago.  At  the  mouth  of  this  very  mine  just 
described,  there  are  trees,  nearly  four  hundred  years  old, 
growing  on  earth  that  was  thrown  out  in  digging  the 
mine.  Of  course,  the  mine  is  older  than  the  trees. 
On  a  mound  at  Marietta,  O.,  there  are  trees  eight  hun 
dred  years  old.  The  mounds  must,  of  course,  be  as 
old  as  that,  and  nobody  knows  how  much  older.  It  is 
very  probable  that  this  mysterious  race  may  have  built 
these  great  works  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago.  v  V 

It  is  very  natural  to  ask  whether  the  Mound-Buildess 
were  the  ancestors  of  our  present  American  Indians. 
It  does  not  seem  at  all  likely  that  they  were,  because 
the  habits  of  the  two  races  were  so  very  different. 
Most  Indian  tribes  show  nothing  of  the  skill  and  indus 
try  required  for  these  great  works.  The  only  native 
tribes  that  seem  to  have  a  civilization  of  their  own  are 
certain  races,  called  Pueblo  Indians  (meaning  village 
Indians),  in  New  Mexico.  These  tribes  live  in  vast 
stone  buildings,  holding,  sometimes,  as  many  as  five 
thousand  people.  These  buildings  are  usually  placed 
on  the  summits  of  hills,  and  have  walls  so  high  as  only 
to  be  reached  by  ladders.  The  Pueblo  Indians  dress 
neatly,  live  in  families,  practise  various  arts,  and  are 
utterly  different  from  the  roving  tribes  farther  north. 


THE    MOUND-BUILDERS. 


II 


But,  after  all,  the  style  of  building  of  even  the  Pueblo 
Indians  is  wholly  unlike  any  thing  we  know  of  the 
Mound-Builders ;  for  the  Mound-Builders  do  not  seem 
to  have  erected  stone  buildings,  nor  do  the  Pueblo 
Indians  build  lofty  mounds. 


PUEBLO    BUILDING,    AS   IT    NOW    APPEARS. 

Perhaps  this  singular  people  will  always  remain  a 
mystery.  They  may  have  come  from  Asia,  or  have  been 
the  descendants  of  Asiatics  accidentally  cast  on  the 
American  shore.  Within  the  last  hundred  years,  no 
less  than  fifteen  Japanese  vessels  have  been  driven 
across  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  storms,  and  wrecked  on 
the  Pacific  coast  of  North  America ;  and  this  may  have 


12 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


happened  as  easily  a  thousand  years  ago  as  a  hundred. 
It  is  certain  that  some  men  among  the  Mound-Builders 
had  reached  the  sea  in  their  travels ;  for  on  some  of 
their  carved  pipes  there  are  representations  of  the  seal 
and  of  the  manati,  or  sea-cow,  —  animals  which  they 


PUEBLO    BUILDING,    RESTORED. 

could  only  have  seen  by  travelling  very  far  to  the  east 
or  west,  or  else  by  descending  the  Mississippi  River  to 
Us  mouth.  But  we  know  neither  whence  they  came  nor 
\vhither  they  went.  Very  few  human  bones  have  b|en 
found  among  the  mounds  ;  and  those  found  had  alqBp^ 
crumbled  into  dust.  We  only  know  that  the  Mou'ritJ- 
Builders  came,  and  built  wonderful  works,  and  then 
made  way  for  another  race,  of  whose  origin  we  know 
almost  as  little. 


CHAPTER   III. 


THE    AMERICAN    INDIANS. 

WHEN   the  first  European  explorers  visited  the 
Atlantic  coast  of  North  America,  they  found  it 
occupied  by  rov 
ing  tribes  of  men 
very  unlike  Euro 
peans  in  aspect. 
They  were  of  a 
copper-color, 
with  high  cheek- 
bones,    small 
black  eyes,  and 
straight    black 
hair.        They 
called    them- 
selves    by    vari 
ous  names  in  dif 
ferent   parts    of 
the     country, 
such    as    Mohegans,    Pequots,    Massachusetts,    Narra 
gansetts,  Hurons,  and  Wampanoags.     But  they  almost 
all  belonged  to  two  great  families,  the  Algonquins  and 
the   Iroquois ;    these  last  being  commonly  called  the 
"Six  Nations."     The  Europeans  named  them  all  "In 


INDIAN   WIGWAMS. 


14  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 

dians,"  because   all    the  first  explorers   supposed  that 
North  America  was  only  the  eastern  part  of  India. 

These  tribes  of  natives  differed  very  much,  in  some 
respects,  as  to  their  mode  of  life.  Some  were  warlike, 
others  peaceful.  Some  lived  only  by  hunting:  others 
had  fields  of  waving  corn,  and  raised  also  beans,  pump 
kins,  tobacco,  American  hemp,  and  sunflowers,  —  these 
last  for  the  oil  in  the  seeds.  Some  had  only  little  tents 
of  skin  or  bark,  called  "  wigwams  : "  others  built  per 
manent  villages,  with  streets,  and  rows  of  houses.  These 
houses  were  sometimes  thirty  feet  high,  and  two  hun 
dred  and  forty  feet  long,  and  contained  as  many  as 
twenty  families.  They  were  built  of  bark,  supported 
by  wooden  posts :  they  had  a  slit,  about  a  foot  wide, 
the  whole  length  of  the  roof,  to  let  the  light  in,  and  the 
smoke  out.  The  fires  were  built  on  the  ground,  in  a 
row,  under  the  long  opening. 

But,  however  carefully  they  may  have  built  their 
houses,  all  these  Indians  were  alike  in  being  a  roving 
race,  living  in  the  open  air  most  of  their  time,  and  very 
unwilling  to  be  long  confined  to  one  place.  They  were 
always  moving  about,  changing  their  abode  at  different 
seasons  of  the  year,  or  when  they  wished  to  pursue  a 
different  kind  of  game.  One  of  their  commonest  rea 
sons  for  removing  was  that  they  had  burned  the  woods 
immediately  around  them.  So  when  the  first  white 
settlers  came,  and  the  Indians  were  -puzzled  to  know 
why  these  strangers  arrived,  some  of  them  thought  that 
it  must  be  because  they  had  burned  up  all  the  wood  in 
the  country  from  which  they  came,  and  that  they  visited 
the  American  continent  merely  to  find  fuel. 

The  Indians  were  not  commonly  equal  to  the  Euro- 


THE    AMERICAN    INDIANS.  15 

peans  in  bodily  strength :  they  were  not  so  strong  in 
the  arms  and  hands,  nor  could  they  strike  such  heavy 
blows.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  their  endurance  was 
wonderful.  They  were  very  light  of  foot,  and  their  best 
runners  could  run  seventy  or  eighty  miles  in  a  day  ;  and 
they  could  bear  the  greatest  torture  without  uttering  a 
groan.  In  the  woods  they  could  hear  sounds,  and 
observe  signs,  which  no  white  man  could  perceive ;  and 
they  had  the  power  of  travelling  for  miles  in  a  straight 
line  through  the  densest  forest,  being  guided  by  the 
appearance  of  the  moss  and  bark  upon  the  trees. 

When  the  colonists  first  arrived,  they  found  the  In 
dians  dressed  chiefly  in  the  skins  of  animals,  which 
they  prepared  by  smoking  them,  instead  of  by  tanning, 
as  is  now  the  practice.  But  they  soon  obtained  blankets 
from  the  colonists,  and  decorated  them  with  beads  and 
shells  and  feathers.  On  great  occasions,  such  as  coun 
cils  and  war-dances,  the  chiefs  wore  a  great  quantity 
of  these  decorations,  and  also  painted  their  faces  with 
bright  colors.  The  women,  or  "  squaws  "  as  they  were 
called,  had  this  same  practice  ;  and  one  old  Puritan 
clergyman  wrote  with  great  indignation,  "  The  squaws 
use  the  sinful  art  of  painting  their  faces."  The  women 
were  more  plainly  dressed  than  the  men,  and,  like 
them,  sometimes  tattooed  their  bodies.  But  the  women 
wore  their  hair  long,  while  the  men  commonly  shaved 
theirs  off,  except  one  lock,  called  the  "  scalp-lock,"  which 
was  left  as  a  point  of  honor ;  so  that,  if  one  Indian 
killed  another,  he  could  cut  off  the  scalp,  lifting  it  by 
this  lock.  In  summer  they  went  about  almost  naked  ; 
and  one  of  the  first  white  settlers  complained  that  it 
was  hard  fighting  hand  to  hand  with  an  Indian,  because 


i6 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


there  was  "  nothing  to  hold  on  by  but  his  hair,"  and 
not  much  of  that. 

The  food  of  the  Indians  was  very  simple :  it  con 
sisted  of  what  they  obtained  by  hunting  and  fishing, 
with  pounded  corn,  acorns,  berries,  and  a  few  vegeta 
bles.  They  used  tobacco,  but  had  no  intoxicating 
drinks  till  they  got  them  from  Europeans.  They  knew 
how  to  make  rush  mats  and  wooden  mortars  and 
earthen  vessels.  They  made  fish-hooks  of  bone,  and  nets 
out  of  the  fibres  of  hemp.  They  made  pipes  of  clay 
and  stone,  often  curiously  carved  or  moulded.  They 
made  stone  axes  and  arrow-heads ;  and  these  are  often 
found  in  the  ground  to  this  day,  wherever  there  is  the 
site  of  an  Indian  village ;  and  they  made  beads,  called 


wampum,"  out  of  shells. 


LEARNING    TO    USE    SNOW-SHOES. 


in  with  a  net-work  of  deer's  hide. 


After  the  Europeans  came, 
they  supplied  the  In 
dians  with  their  own 
beads,  and  with  iron 
axes  and  arrow- 
heads,  and,  at  last, 
with  fire-arms. 

But  the  most  in 
genious  inventions 
of  the  Indians  were 
the  snow-shoe  and 
the  birch  canoe.  The 
snow-shoe  was  made 
of  a  maple-wood 
frame,  three  or  four 
feet  long,  curved  and 
tapering,  and  filled 
This  net-work  was 


THE    AMERICAN    INDIANS.  17 

fastened  to  the  foot  by  thongs,  only  a  light  elastic 
moccason  being  worn.  Thus  the  foot  was  supported 
on  the  surface  of  the  snow ;  and  an  Indian  could  travel 
forty  miles  a  day  upon  snow-shoes,  and  could  easily 
overtake  the  deer  and  moose,  whose  pointed  hoofs 
cut  through  the  crust.  The  peculiar  pattern  varied 
with  almost  every  tribe,  as  did  also  the  pattern  of 
the  birch  canoe.  This  was  made  of  the  bark  of  the 
white-birch,  stretched  over  a  very  light  frame  of  white- 
cedar.  The  whole  bark  of  a  birch-tree  was  stripped 


BIRCH    CANOK. 


off,  and  put  round  the  frame,  without  being  torn.  The 
edges  were  sewed  with  thongs  cut  from  the  roots  of  the 
cedar,  and  were  then  covered  with  pitch  made  from 
the  gum  of  trees.  If  torn,  the  canoe  could  be  mended 
with  pieces  of  bark,  fastened  in  the  same  way.  The 
largest  of  these  canoes  were  thirty  feet  long,  and  would 
carry  ten  or  twelve  Indians :  they  were  very  light,  and 
could  be  paddled  with  ease.  They  were  often  very 
gracefully  shaped,  and  drew  very  little  water.  The 
birch  canoe  and  the  snow-shoe  are  still  much  in  use, 


1 8  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

not  only  among  Indians,  but  among  white  men,  in  the 
northern  parts  of  the  United  States  and  in  Canada. 

Many  of  the  Indian  tribes  were  divided  into  smaller 
classes,  or  clans,  distinguished  by  a  mark,  or  totem, 
tattooed  on  the  breast ;  such  as  the  wolf,  deer,  tor 
toise,  beaver,  bear,  snipe,  heron,  hawk.  Each  class 
had  one  or  more  chiefs,  or  sachems,  who  represented  it 
in  the  great  councils.  The  sachem  was  commonly  a 
man,  but  sometimes  a  woman ;  and  the  first  settlers  in 
New  England  found  a  "great  squaw  sachem,"  who 
ruled  over  much  country.  These  rulers  did  not  govern 
by  any  written  laws,  but  by  fixed  customs  and  tradition, 
which  had  great  weight  with  the  Indians ;  and  the  sub 
jects  carried  their  best  fruit  and  game  to  the  sachem. 

Each  class  in  a  tribe  was  supposed  to  be  particularly 
favored  by  the  spirit  of  the  animal  represented  in  its 
totem.  The  Indians  thought  that  all  animals  had  pro 
tecting  spirits ;  and  they  often  addressed  animals  as  if 
they  were  human./  One  of  the  early  missionaries  de 
scribes  an  Indian  who  shot  at  a  large  bear,  and  wounded 
him.  The  bear  fell  wounded,  and  lay  whining  and  groan 
ing.  The  Indian  went  up  to  him,  and  said,  "  Bear, 
you  are  a  coward,  and  no  warrior.  You  know  that 
your  tribe  and  mine  are  at  war,  and  that  yours  began 
it.  If  you  had  wounded  me,  I  would  not  have  uttered 
a  sound  ;  and  yet  you  sit  here  and  cry,  and  disgrace 
your  tribe." 

They  believed  that  the  winds  and  the  stars  had  also 
spirits ;  and  they  had  many  wild  legends  about  such 
things,  some  of  which  are  preserved  in  Longfellow's 
"  Hiawatha."  They  believed  in  a  God,  or  sometimes 
in  many  gods  ;  and  they  believed  that  they  should  live 


THE   AMERICAN    INDIANS.  19 

again  after  death.  When  any  warrior  died,  they  buried 
his  weapons  with  his  body,  that  he  might  use  them 
again  in  the  happy  hunting-grounds  of  the  blest  in 
heaven.  Their  religious  services  were  strange  and 
noisy,  with  peculiar  songs  and  dances ;  and  they  had 
"  medicine-men,"  who  were  something  between  priests 
and  physicians,  and  claimed  to  cure  by  magic  spells, 
as  well  as  by  the  simple  remedies  they  knew.  The 
Indians  had  no  written  language,  but  had  ways  of  com 
municating  to  one  another  by  signs  on  rocks  and  trees. 
They  had  no  money,  but  used  wampum-beads  for  coins  ; 
and  these  were  so  neatly  made,  and  so  convenient,  that 
the  first  European  settlers  used  them  also,  at  the  rate 
of  four  black  beads,  or  eight  white  beads,  for  a  penny. 
They  had  belts  made  with  this  wampum,  which  were 
used  to  record  all  important  events  in  the  history  of  the 
tribe  ;  and  treaties  were  thus  kept  in  memory  for  years. 

Schoolcraft  gives  a  copy  of  a  drawing  made  by  two 
Indian  guides  on  a  piece  of  birch  bark.  It  was  placed 
upon  an  upright  pole,  for  the  purpose  of  informing 
their  comrades  that  a  party  of  fourteen  white  men  and 
two  Indians  had  encamped  at  that  place. 

The  eight  figures  in  the  upper  row,  with  hats  on,  and 
with  muskets  beside  them,  represent  as  many  white 
soldiers.  In  the  second  row,  No.  i  represents  the  offi 
cer  in  command,  with  a  sword ;  No.  2,  with  a  book,  the 
secretary  ;  No.  3,  with  a  hammer,  the  geologist ;  4,  5,  6, 
attendants,  one  of  these  being  the  interpreter.  Nos.  7 
and  8  represent  the  two  guides,  who  are  distinguished 
as  Indians  by  being  without  hats.  Figure  1 1  represents 
a  prairie-hen,  and  12  a  tortoise,  which  had  been  eaten 
by  the  party.  Figures  13,  14,  15,  indicate  that  there 


2O 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


were  three  separate  fires.  The  inclination  of  the  pole 
showed  the  direction  of  the  proposed  march,  and  three 
notches  in  the  wood  showed  that  it  was  to  be  a  three- 
days'  expedition. 

The  Indians  had  great  courage,  self-control,  and  pa 
tience.  They  were  grave  and  dignified  in  their  man 
ners,  on  important  occasions  :  in  their  councils  they  were 
courteous  to  one  another,  and  discussed  all  important 


questions  at  great  length.  They  were  often  kind  and 
generous,  and  sometimes  even  forgiving;  but  they 
generally  held  sternness  to  be  a  virtue,  and  forgiveness 
a  weakness.  They  were  especially  cruel  to  captives, 
putting  them  to  death  with  all  manner  of  tortures,  in 
which  women  took  an  active  part.  It  was  the  custom 
among  them  for  women  to  do  most  of  the  hard  work, 
in  order  that  the  bodies  of  the  men  might  be  kept 
supple  and  active  for  the  pursuits  of  the  chase  and  war. 


THE   AMERICAN    INDIANS.  21 

When  employed  on  these  pursuits,  the  Indian  men 
seemed  incapable  of  fatigue  ;  but  in  the  camp,  or  in 
travelling,  the  women  carried  the  burdens,  and,  when  a 
hunter  had  carried  a  slain  deer  on  his  shoulders  for 
a  long  distance,  he  would  throw  it  down  within  sight  of 
the  village,  that  his  squaw  might  go  and  bring  it  in. 

Most  of  the  Indian  tribes  lived  in  a  state  of  con 
stant  warfare  with  one  another.  When  there  was  a 
quarrel  between  tribes,  and  war  seemed  ready  to 
break  out,  strange  ceremonies  were  used.  Some  lead 
ing  chief  would  paint  his  body  black  from  head  to  foot, 
and  would  hide  himself  in  the  woods  or  in  a  cavern. 
There  he  would  fast  and  pray,  and  call  upon  the  Great 
Spirit ;  and  would  observe  his  dreams,  to  see  if  they 
promised  good  or  evil.  If  he  could  dream  of  a  great 
war-eagle  hovering  before  him,  it  would  be  a  sign 
of  triumph.  After  a  time  he  would  come  forth  from 
the  woods,  and  return  among  his  people.  Then  he 
would  address  them,  summon  them  to  war,  and  assure 
them  that  the  Great  Spirit  was  on  their  side.  Then 
he  would  bid  the  warriors  to  a  feast  at  his  wigwam. 
There  they  would  find  him  no  longer  painted  in  black, 
but  in  bright  and  gaudy  colors,  called  "war-paint." 
The  guests  would  be  also  dressed  in  paint  and  feathers, 
and  would  seat  themselves  in  a  circle.  Then  wooden 
trenchers,  containing  the  flesh  of  dogs,  would  be 
placed  before  them ;  while  the  chief  would  sit  smoking 
his  pipe,  and  would  not  yet  break  his  long  and  exhaust 
ing  fast. 

After  the  feast,  the  war-dance  would  follow,  perhaps 
at  night,  amid  the  blaze  of  fires  and  lighted  pine-knots. 
A  painted  post  would  be  driven  into  the  ground  ;  and 


22 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


the  crowd  would  form  a  wide  circle  round  it.  The 
war-chief  would  leap  into  the  open  space,  brandishing 
his  hatchet,  and  would  chant  his  own  deeds  and  those 
of  his  fathers,  acting  out  all  that  he  described,  and 
striking  at  the  post  as  if  it  were  an  enemy.  Warrior 
after  warrior  would  follow,  till  at  last  the  whole  band 


INDIAN  WAR-DANCE. 


would  be  dancing,  shouting,  and  brandishing  their 
weapons,  striking  and  stabbing  at  the  air,  and  filling 
the  forest  with  their  yells. 

Much  of  the  night  would  pass  in  this  way.  In  the 
morning  the  warriors  .would  leave  the  camp  in  single 
file,  still  decorated  with  paint  and  feathers  and  orna 
ments  ;  and,  as  they  entered  the  woods,  the  chief 


THE   AMERICAN    INDIANS.  23 

would  fire  his  gun,  and  each  in  turn  would  do  the  same. 
Then  they  would  halt  near  the  village,  would  take  off 
their  ornaments  and  their  finery,  and  would  give  all 
these  things  to  the  women,  who  had  followed  them  for 
this  purpose.  Then  the  warriors  would  go  silently  and 
stealthily  through  the  forest  to  the  appointed  place  of 
attack.  Much  of  their  skill  consisted  in  these  silent 
approaches,  and  in  surprises  and  stratagems,  and  long 
and  patient  watchings.  They  attached  no  shame  to 
killing  an  unarmed  enemy,  or  to  private  deceit  and 
treachery,  though  to  their  public  treaties  they  were  al 
ways  faithful.  They  were  desperately  brave,  and  yet 
they  saw  no  disgrace  in  running  away  when  there  was 
no  chance  of  success.  Their  weapons  were,  at  first,  the 
bow-and-arrow,  and  a  sort  of  hatchet,  called  a  "  toma 
hawk  ; "  and  they  had  shields  of  bison-hide,  and  some 
times  breastplates  of  twigs  interwoven  with  cord.  Af 
terwards  they  learned  the  use  of  fire-arms  from  the 
whites,  and  became  skilful  with  these  weapons,  losing 
much  of  their  skill  with  the  bow-and-arrow.  Some 
tribes  built  strong  forts,  with  timber  walls,  palisades, 
banks,  and  ditches.  In  these  forts  they  had  magazines 
of  stones  to  hurl  down  upon  those  who  attacked  them  ; 
and  there  were  gutters  by  which  to  pour  down  streams 
of  water,  should  the  fort  be  set  on  fire. 

When  first  visited  by  Europeans,  the  Indians  were 
said  to  be  already  diminishing  in  number,  through  war 
and  pestilence  ;  and  they  have  diminished  ever  since, 
till  many  tribes  have  wholly  disappeared.  At  first  they 
were  disposed  to  be  friendly  with  the  white  men  ;  but 
quarrels  soon  arose,  each  side  being  partly  to  blame. 
The  savages  often  burned  villages,  carried  away  cap- 


24  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES, 

tives,  and  laid  whole  regions  waste.  In  return,  their 
villages  and  forts  were  destroyed,  and  their  tribes  were 
driven  westward,  or  reduced  to  a  mere  handful.  Some 
of  these  wars  will  be  described  farther  on  in  this  his 
tory  •  and  to  this  day  some  of  the  western  settlements 
of  the  United  States  live  in  constant  fear  of  attack  from 
Indian  tribes.  But  this  race  is  passing  away ;  and  in 
another  century  there  will  hardly  be  a  roving  Indian 
within  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  Only  those 
tribes  will  survive  which  have  adopted,  in  part,  the 
habits  of  civilization. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 

THERE  is  in  the  city  of  Newport,  R.I.,  a  pictur 
esque  old  building,  the  precise  history  of  which 
is  not  known.  It  is  commonly  called  the  "Round 
Tower,"  or  the  "  Old  Stone  Mill."  It  is  built  of  stone, 
and  consists  of  a  low,  circular  tower,  supported  on  eight 
arches.  Within  the  memory  of  living  men,  there  still 
remained  a  floor  above  these  arches,  making  a  second 
story  to  the  building.  There  are  two  windows  and  a 
fireplace,  but  nothing  to  show  for  what  use  the  building 
was  originally  employed.  Yet  it  is  not,  outwardly,  a 
ruin,  since  the  cement  in  which  the  stones  are  embedded 
is  as  strong  as  ever,  and  the  whole  structure  seems 
complete,  except  that  it  is  roofless.  The  first  mention 
of  this  building  is  by  Gov.  Benedict  Arnold  in  his  will, 
dated  1677  ;  and  he  calls  it  "my  stone  built  windmill." 
But  it  is  so  unlike  any  other  windmill  in  America,  that 
it  was  for  a  long  time  doubted  whether  it  could  have 
been  built  for  that  purpose. 

Some  thirty-five  years  ago,  Professor  Rafn,  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries  at  Copenhagen, 
published  a  book  showing  that  the  Northmen,  or  Scan 
dinavians,  undoubtedly  visited  the  shores  of  North 
America  about  A.D.  1000,  and  that  they  probably 

25 


26  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

entered  Narragansett  Bay.  It  then  occurred  to  some 
American  antiquarians,  that  this  old  building  at  New 
port  might  have  been  erected  by  those  early  voyagers. 
Examination  was  also  made,  at  about  the  same  time,  of 
an  inscription  on  a  rock  near  Dighton,  Mass.,  called 
the  "  Dighton  Rock ; "  and  it  was  thought  that  some 
words  of  this  were  in  the  Norse  language.  Then  it 
was  remembered  that  a  skeleton  in  a  brass  breastplate 
had  been  dug  up  at  Fall  River,  Mass.,  a  town  lying 
between  Dighton  and  Newport;  and  it  was  thought 
that  this  might  be  the  remains  of  a  Norse  viking,  or 
rover.  The  poet  Longfellow  has  written  a  ballad 
about  this  "  Skeleton  in  Armor."  The  skeleton  was 
unfortunately  destroyed  not  long  after  ;  so  that  we  do 
not  know  much  about  it :  but  it  is  now  known  that  the 
Norsemen  did  not  use  brass  armor,  while  the  American 
Indians  sometimes  used  for  breastplates  pieces  of  brass 
kettles,  which  they  got  from  the  English  colonists. 
The  inscription  at  Dighton  Rock  is  now  supposed  to 
have  been  made  by  the  Indians,  as  it  resembles  many 
sculptured  rocks  in  the  interior  of  the  continent ;  and 
the  skeleton  may  have  been  that  of  an  Indian  warrior. 
And,  as  for  the  "  Old  Stone  Mill,"  it  is  found  to  be  very 
much  like  some  still  standing  in  that  very  county  in 
England  from  which  Governor  Arnold  came.  So  it  is 
not  at  all  likely  that  any  of  these  memorials  could  date 
back  as  far  as  the  time  of  the  Northmen  ;  and  yet  it  is 
altogether  probable  that  the  Northmen  visited  America 
at  a  very  early  time.  - 

We  must  remember  that  the  Northmen  were  great 
sailors,  like  their  descendants,  the  Danes,  Norwegians, 
and  Swedes.  It  is  rare  to  find  a  large  crew  of  sailors 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORTHMEN;         2* 

without  a  man  in  it  who  belongs  to  one  of  these  na 
tions  ',  and  their  ancestors  had  the  same  love  of  the  sea. 
Now,  when  we  look  on  the  map,  we  see  that  it  does  not 
look  very  far  from  Norway  to  Iceland,  nor  from  Green 
land  to  Labrador.  When  once  arrived  at  Labrador, 
any  persevering  navigator  would  be  tempted  to  follow 
down  the  coast  of  North  America.  But  the  Northmen 


THE   "OLD  STONE  MILL. 


certainly  settled  Iceland  a  thousand  years  ago :  and  it 
is  known  from  the  annals  of  Iceland  that  a  colony  was 
sent  thence  to  Greenland,  and  there  remained  for  a 
long  time  ;  and  some  of  these  emigrants  may  easily 
have  sailed  on  to  Labrador ;  or  some  vessel  bound  for 
Greenland  may  have  been  driven  too  far  west,  and  so 
reached  the  mainland  without  intending  it.  At  ar»y 


28  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

rate,  it  is  recorded  in  the  Norse  traditions  that  the 
Northmen  in  sailing  west  actually  arrived,  about  A.D. 
1000,  at  some  country  beyond  Greenland. 

This  is  the  way  the  story  is  told  in  the  Norse  books. 
A  prince,  named  Leif  the  Lucky,  son  of  Erik  the  Red, 
sailed  west  from  Greenland  with  thirty-five  men,  one 
of  whom  was  a  German.  After  they  had  landed  on 
a  strange  land,  this  German,  named  Tyrker,  strayed  off 
one  day,  and  was  thought  to  be  lost.  When  he  came 
back,  he  talked  German,  and  rolled  his  eyes  around, 
and  seemed  out  of  his  senses.  But  at  last  he  said  in 
the  Norse  language,  "  I  have  not  been  far  ;  but  I  have 
found  something  to  tell  of :  I  have  found  vines  and 
grapes." 

"  But  is  it  true,  my  foster-brother  ? "  asked  Leif. 

"  Surely  it  is,"  he  answered ;  "  for  I  came  from  the 
land  of  grapes  and  vines." 

"  Then  they  slept  for  the  night,"  the  Norse  narrative 
says ;  "  but  in  the  morning  Leif  said  to  his  sailors,  '  Now 
we  shall  have  two  jobs.  Each  day  we  will  either  gather 
grapes,  or  hew  grape-vines,  or  fell  trees,  so  there  will 
be  a  cargo  for  my  ship ; '  and  that  was  the  counsel 
taken.  It  is  said  that  their  long-boat  was  filled  with 
grapes.  Now  was  hewn  a  cargo  for  the  ship,  and,  when 
spring  came,  they  got  ready  and  sailed  off ;  and  Leif 
gave  a  name  to  the  land,  after  its  sort,  and  called  it 
'  Vinland.'  They  sailed  then  afterwards  into  the  sea, 
and  had  a  fair  wind  until  they  saw  Greenland." 

A  year  or  two  afterwards  Leif's  brother,  Thorwald, 
wished  to  visit  Vinland  ;  for  he  thought  that  the  land 
had  been  too  little  examined.  They  came  to  the  place 
where  Leif  had  built  huts.  There  they  spent  the  win- 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  NORTHMEN.         29 

ter,  and  in  the  spring  went  exploring  along  the  shore 
"  to  the  westward."  At  last  they  saw  three  boats  made 
of  skin,  with  three  men  in  each.  These  the  Northmen 
attacked,  and  killed  all  but  one.  They  were,  appar 
ently,  Indians,  called  in  the  Norse  legends  "  Skrael 
ings. 'V  Then  came  from  within  the  firth  innumerable 
skin-boats,  and  made  toward  them.  Thorwald  said 
then,  "  We  will  set  up  our  battle-shiel.ds,  and  guard  our 
selves  the  best  we  can,  but  fight  little  against  them." 
So  they  did ;  and  the  Skraelings  shot  at  them  for  a 
while,  but  then  fled  as  fast  as  they  could.  But  they 
had  wounded  Thorwald  by  an  arrow,  so  that  he  died ; 
and  this  party  of  Norsemen  also  became  discouraged, 
and  went  back  to  Greenland  the  next  spring. 

But  Vinland  was  now  well  known ;  and  still  larger 
parties  of  Northmen  came  afterwards.  They  sent  home 
very  enthusiastic  accounts  of  their  new  dwelling-place  ; 
praising  the  grapes  and  the  salmon  and  the  soil,  and 
saying  that  the  day  and  night  were  more  nearly  equal 
than  in  Greenland  or  Iceland.  The  Indians,  or  Skrael 
ings,  soon  came  in  skin-boats  to  trade  with  them.  In 
one  case  the  Skraelings  were  all  busy,  selling  furs  for 
red  cloth,  when  a  bull,  that  belonged  to  the  strangers, 
came  bellowing  out  of  the  wood ;  and  the  Skraelings 
jumped  into  their  canoe,  and  rowed  away.  The  next 
time  the  Skraelings  came,  it  was  as  warriors ;  and  they 
attacked  the  Northmen  with  their  arrows,  and  could 
not  be  easily  beaten  off.  So  the  strangers  did  not  have 
an  easy  time.  But  they  staid  there  several  winters ; 
and  a  woman  named  Gudrid  had  a  son  named  Snorri, 
who  was,  perhaps,  the  first  white  child  born  on  this 
continent. 


30  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

There  is  much  more  of  this  same  sort  in  the  tradi 
tions  of  the  Northmen ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  yield  us 
any  more  definite  knowledge.  There  is  little  doubt  of 
their  having  reached  the  North  American  coast ;  but 
whether  Vinland  was  Rhode  Island,  or  Nova  Scotia,  or 
some  other  place,  we  perhaps  shall  never  know.  For 
a  time  it  was  thought  that  it  must  be  Rhode  Island. 
The  Norse  narratives  describe  a  mild  climate,  with  wild 
grapes ;  and  it  was  thought  that  this  must  refer  to  New 
port,  R.I.,  where  there  are  plenty  of  these  grapes  on 
the  islands  in  the  harbor.  But  wild  grapes  grow  in 
Nova  Scotia  also ;  and  the  climate  there  might  seem 
mild  to  those  who  had  come  from  Iceland.  This  is  all 
we  know  about  the  matter.  Perhaps  there  may  yet 
be  found  along  the  coast  of  New  England  some  real 
memorial  of  the  Northmen;  and  in  the  mean  time,  if 
it  were  not  for  their  own  legends,  it  would  be  hard  to 
believe  that  they  ever  came. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE   COMING   OF   COLUMBUS. 


WHATEVER  may  have  been  the  truth  about  the 
visit  of  the  Northmen  to  America,  it  is  certain, 
that,  if  they  came,  they  sailed  away  again,  never  to 
return.  Even  their  colony  in 
Greenland  was  at  last  aban 
doned  ;  and  the  memory 
of  Vinland  almost  disap 
peared.  For  nearly  five 
centuries,  so  far  as  we  know, 
not  a  European  vessel 
crossed  the  Atlantic.  Some 
of  the  older  people  in  Ice 
land  may  have  remembered 
that  their  grandparents  had 
told  them  of  a  country  far 
to  the  west,  where  vines 
grew ;  and  perhaps  they 
used  to  tell  these  legends, 
in  the  long,  dark  evenings, 

0    7  TOMB  OF  COLUMBUS. 

to  the  Spanish  and  English 

sailors  who  went  on  trading-voyages  to  Iceland.  There 
came  a  time  of  great  commercial  activity  among  the 
nations  of  Southern  Europe ;  and  voyages  began  to  be 

3* 


32  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 

attempted  in  all  directions.  And  one  voyage  was  at 
last  undertaken  that  was  destined  to  make  the  New 
World  known  to  the  Old  World. 

There  was  born  at  Genoa,  in  Italy,  about  1435,  a  boy 
named  "  Cristoforo  Colombo,"  or,  in  English,  "  Christo 
pher  Columbus."  His  father  was  a  weaver  of  cloth,  but 
his  ancestors  had  been  sailors  ;  and  the  little  Columbus 
was  sent  to  school  at  ten  years  old  to  learn  navigation. 
At  fourteen  he  went  to  sea ;  and  from  that  time,  so  long 
as  he  lived,  he  was  either  making  voyages,  or  else  draw 
ing  charts.  He  lived  in  Portugal,  then  in  Spain,  these 
being  the  great  seafaring  nations  at  that  day ;  and  he 
sailed  to  almost  all  the  ports  then  known.  Most  of  his 
voyages,  however,  were  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  In 
these  there  was  almost  as  much  righting  as  sailing ;  for 
that  sea  was  full  of  pirates.  On  one  occasion  his  ship 
was  burnt,  and  he  swam  six  miles  to  shore  with  the  aid 
of  a  spar.  And  throughout  all  these  adventures  he  was 
gradually  forming  the  plan  of  sailing  farther  west  upon 
the  Atlantic  than  any  one  had  yet  dared  to  sail. 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  people  of  Eu 
rope,  in  those  days,  did  not  know  the  real  shape  of  the 
earth,  as  it  is  now  known.  Most  persons  did  not  sup 
pose  it  to  be  a  sphere.  They  thought  it  was  a  flat  sur 
face,  with  the  ocean,  like  a  great  river,  lying  round 
about  its  edges.  What  was  on  the  other  side  of  this 
river,  they  hardly  dared  to  guess.  Yet  some  scientific 
men  had  got  beyond  this  ignorant  view ;  and  they  sup 
posed  the  earth  to  be  a  sphere,  but  thought  it  much 
smaller  than  it  really  was.  They  did  not  dream  that 
there  could  be  room  on  it  for  two  wide  oceans  and  for 
two  great  bodies  of  land.  They  thought  that  there  was 


THE   COMING   OF   COLUMBUS.  33 

but  one  continent  on  the  globe,  and  one  great  ocean, 
and  that,  by  sailing  across  the  Atlantic,  you  would 
come,  after  a  time,  to  India  and  Tartary  and  Cathay  (as 
they  called  China)  and  Cipango  (as  they  called  Japan). 
Many  beautiful  things  were  brought  from  those  coun 
tries  overland,  —  gold  and  pearls  and  beautiful  silks ; 
and  so  the  kings  of  Europe  would  have  been  very  glad 
to  find  a  short  way  thither.  This  map  shows  clearly 
how  the  wisest  men  thought  it  might  be  done.  The 
drawing  was  made  by  a  friend  of  Columbus,  in  the  very 
year  when  he  made  the  first  western  voyage  across  the 
Atlantic.  It  shows  the  names  of  all  the  places  just 
mentioned  ;  and  it  shows,  moreover,  how  near  at  hand 
they  were  supposed  to  be,  when  the  navigators  of  those 
days  were  making  the  maps. 

Columbus  studied  such  maps,  or  helped  to  draw 
them,  and  grew  more  and  more  convinced,  that,  if  he 
could  only  cross  the  unknown  ocean,  he  would  find 
India  on  the  other  side.  Things  often  happened  to 
confirm  him  in  this  opinion.  Sailors  from  the  Canary 
Islands  told  him  of  seeing  land  far  in  the  west.  His 
brother-in-law  had  seen  a  piece  of  curiously-carved 
wood,  that  had  been  washed  on  shore  in  Portugal,  after 
a  westerly  gale.  An  old  pilot  had  picked  up  a  carved 
paddle  at  sea,  a  thousand  miles  west  of  the  European 
coast.  At  Madeira,  Columbus  heard  of  pine-trees  that 
had  been  washed  up  ;  and  at  the  Azores  they  had  found 
tropical  cane-stalks  on  the  beach ;  and  once  the  bodies 
of  two  men,  of  foreign  dress  and  aspect,  had  been  cast 
on  shore.  Then  it  is  supposed  that  Columbus  went  to 
Iceland  ;  and  there  he  may  have  heard  legends  of  the 
early  expeditions  to  Vinland. 
3 


THE   COMING   OF   COLUMBUS.  35 

For  ten  years  he  endeavored  to  persuade  some  Euro 
pean  government  to  send  him  on  a  voyage  of  discovery 
across  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  First  he  tried  the  republic 
of  Genoa,  then  the  republic  of  Venice,  and  then  the 
court  of  Portugal.  For  seven  years  he  tried  to  interest 
the  two  sovereigns  of  Spain,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
At  last  they  gave  him  an  audience,  and  liked  his  plans 
very  much ;  but  the  Archbishop  of  Granada,  who  was 
present,  thought  that  Columbus  asked  for  too  much 
power  over  the  lands  he  expected  to  discover :  so  the 
archbishop  objected.  Columbus  refused  to  lower  his 
claims,  and  left  the  court.  He  had  gone  two  leagues 
(six  miles),  when  the  queen  sent  for  him  to  return; 
and,  when  he  had  done  so,  the  king  and  queen  signed 
an  agreement  with  him  on  his  own  terms.  Isabella 
decided  to  fit  out  the  expedition  at  the  expense  of  her 
own  kingdom  of  Castile,  the  chief  of  the  kingdoms  of 
which  Spain  was  composed. 

In  three  months  the  expedition  was  ready  to  sail. 
But  sailors  were  unwilling  to  go  ;  and  Columbus  had 
to  drive  some  of  them  by  force  into  the  service,  as  he 
had  authority  to  do.  There  were  three  ships,  —  the 
"  Santa  Maria,"  the  "  Pinta,"  and  the  « Nina."  The 
"  Santa  Maria "  was  a  good-sized  vessel,  ninety  «feet 
long,  and  carrying  sixty-six  seamen.  It  was  decked 
all  over,  and  had  four  masts,  —  two  with  square  sails, 
and  two  with  lateen-sails.  The  other  vessels  were 
smaller,  and  without  decks  :  and  they  were  all  provis 
ioned  for  a  year.  There  were,  in  all,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  persons  on  this  bold  expedition. 

They  sailed  from  Palos  Aug.  3,  1492.  It  took 
them  a  month  to  reach  the  Canary  Islands ;  but  after 


36  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

they  had  passed  those,  and  found  themselves  on  the 
lonely  ocean  at  night,  many  of  the  sailors  wept,  and 
declared  they  never  should  return.  Columbus  quieted 
them,  and  they  sailed  on,  day  by  day;  sometimes  hope 
ful,  and  sometimes  mutinous.  Once  the  sailors  plotted 


FLEET  OF  COLUMBUS  SAILING   FROM    PALOS. 

to  throw  Columbus  overboard.  Often  they  thought 
they  saw  signs  of  land :  once  they  were  sure  of  it,  and 
it  proved  only  a  cloud.  At  last  land-birds  were  seen, 
and  floating  twigs  with  red  berries,  and  a  piece  of  wood 
rudely  carved,  and  drifting  seaweed,  to  which  live  crabs 
were  clinging.  Finally,  one  evening  at  ten  o'clock, 
Columbus  saw  a  light  glimmering  across  the  water; 


THE    COMING    OF    COLUMBUS.  37 

and  the  next  morning  a  gun  was  fired  from  one  of  the 
smaller  vessels,  as  the  signal  agreed  upon  for  "  making 
land."  It  was  a  very  welcome  sound ;  for  they  had  been 
seventy-one  days  in  crossing  the  ocean,  which  is  now 
crossed  by  steamers  in  nine.  The  vessels  "  lay  to " 
that  night ;  and  the  next  morning  they  saw  a  wooded 
island  six  miles  away,  and  crowds  of  natives  running 
along  the  beach. 

We  may  imagine  how  Columbus  felt,  when,  at  day 
break,  he  was  rowed  to  the  shore,  with  waving  banners, 
and  to  the  sound  of  music,  and  when  he  stepped  upon 
the  beach  where  no  European  had  ever  before  landed  ! 
He  bore  the  great  flag  of  Spain,  gorgeous  with  red  and 
gold  ;  and  his  other  captains  bore  each  a  green  flag, 
inscribed  with  a  cross.  All  knelt,  and  kissed  the  ground  ; 
then  Columbus,  rising,  and  drawing  his  sword,  took 
possession  of  the  island  in  the  name  of  Spain,  and 
called  it  "  San  Salvador." 

He  soon  sailed  farther  on,  visiting  Cuba,  Hayti,  and 
other  West-India  Islands ;  but  he  did  not  reach  the 
mainland  during  this  voyage.  Returning  to  Spain, 
he  was  received  with  great  honor :  and  a  second  expe 
dition  was  fitted  out  under  him,  consisting  of  seventeen 
vessels  and  fifteen  hundred  men.  With  these  he  dis 
covered  the  Windward  Islands, — Jamaica  and  Porto 
Rico,  —  and  founded  a  colony  in  Hayti;  the  island 
being  then  called  "  Hispaniola,"  or  "  Little  Spain." 

On  his  third  voyage,  in  1498,  he  had  six  ships,  and 
reached  the  mainland  of  South  America,  though  not  till 
it  had  been  visited  by  another  navigator,  Amerigo  Ves 
pucci,  or  Americus  Vespucius.  The  voyage  of  Ameri- 
cus  Vespucius  was  made  in  the  winter  of  1497-98.  He 


38  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

was  long  supposed  to  have  deceived  the  world  in  giving 
this  date  to  his  discovery;  but  it  is  now  pretty  well 
established  that  he  spoke  the  truth.  Ten  years  after, 
a  European  geographer  gave  the  continent  the  name  of 
"  Americi  Terra,"  or  the  land  discovered  by  Americus  ; 
and  thus  it  has  borne  his  name  ever  since.  It  would 
have  seemed  more  just  that  it  should  have  borne  the 
name  of  Columbus  ;  and  Americus  Vespucius,  who  was 
his  friend,  had  probably  no  intention  of  taking  this 
honor  from  him  ;  but  this  was  the  way  it  happened. 
Meanwhile  Sebastian  Cabot  had  reached  the  North 
American  Continent  before  Columbus ;  so  that  the 
great  navigator  was  not  the  first  to  set  foot  on  the 
mainland,  North  or  South. 

On  this  third  voyage  of  Columbus,  he  touched  at  his 
colony  of  Hispaniola,  where  he  found  them  all  quarrel 
ling  ;  and  he  was  presently  arrested  by  a  Spanish  com 
missioner,  Bobadilla,  who  had  been  sent  out  by  the  ene 
mies  of  Columbus.  He  was  carried  on  board  ship  in 
chains ;  and,  when  the  officers  of  the  ship  wished  to 
take  them  off,  he  refused,  saying,  "  I  will  wear  them  as  a 
memento  of  the  gratitude  of  princes."  Reaching  Spain, 
he  was  released,  but  could  get  no  redress  from  the  king. 
The  truth  was,  that  King  Ferdinand  was  quite  dissatis 
fied  with  the  new  countries,  as  not  yielding  wealth 
enough.  However,  Columbus  fitted  out  one  more  expe 
dition,  with  four  ships,  and  went  on  a  final  voyage, 
reaching  the  coast  of  North  America  at  last,  although  he 
thought  all  his  life  that  it  was  Asia  he  had  visited.  This 
last  voyage  was  a  sad  one  for  him,  as  his  own  colony 
at  Hispaniola  refused  to  let  him  land ;  and  he  was  now 
old  and  weary,  and  as  poor  as  ever.  His  one  firm 


THE   COMING    OF   COLUMBUS.  39 

friend,  Queen  Isabella,  had  died ;  and  he  died  himself 
in  1506,  aged  about  seventy  years.  Some  years  after, 
King  Ferdinand  ordered  a  marble  tomb  to  be  placed 
upon  his  grave,  with  the  inscription,  "  To  Castile  and 
Leon,  Columbus  gave  a  new  world."  But,  more  than 
two  centuries  after  that,  the  remains  of  the  great  voya 
ger  were  transferred  to  the  great  cathedral  at  Havana, 
that  they  might  rest  in  the  soil  of  that  New  World 
which  he  had  discovered. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   SUCCESSORS   OF   COLUMBUS. 

f^HE  next  important  voyage  to  America  was 
JL  planned  by  John  Cabot,  a  merchant  born  at 
Venice,  but  living  in  Bristol,  England.  There  had  long 
been  some  commerce  between  Bristol  and  Iceland  ;  and 
it  is  very  likely  that  John  Cabot,  like  Columbus,  had 
heard  from  Icelanders  the  tradition  of  the  old  Norse 
voyages.  At  any  rate,  he  got  from  King  Henry  VII. 
of  England  a  "  patent,"  or  permission,  allowing  himself 
and  his  three  sons  to  cruise  about  the  world,  at  their 
own  expense,  with  five  ships ;  and  to  take  possession, 
in  the  name  of  England,  of  countries  hitherto  unknown 
to  Europeans.  It  was  agreed,  that,  whenever  he  had 
done  so,  nobody  but  the  family  of  Cabot  was  to  be 
allowed  to  trade  with  any  such  countries,  unless  the 
Cabots  gave  permission.  They  were  allowed  to  sail  in 
any  direction,  —  east,  west,  or  north ;  but  what  they 
really  desired  was  to  get  to  India  by  a  north-west 
passage.  At  any  rate,  wherever  they  might  go,  one- 
fifth  of  the  profits  of  their  trade  must  be  given  to  the 
King  of  England. 

So  John  Cabot  and  his  sons  set  sail  in  1497.    Sebas 
tian  is  the  best  known  of  these  sons,  and  became  more 
famous  than  even  his  father.     We  do  not  know  exactly 
40 


THE   SUCCESSORS   OF   COLUMBUS.  41 

what  their  ships  were  ;  but  they  probably  looked  like 
this  picture,  which  is  taken  from  a  map  made  by  Sebas 
tian  Cabot.  We  do  not  know  much  of  their  voyage ; 
only  that  they  reached  Labrador,  and  found  it,  as  we 
may  well  suppose,  cold  and  dismal.  They  said,  when 
they  got  home,  that  the  country  was  very  barren,  and 
that  they  had  seen  a  great  many  white  bears.  They 


had  not  much  more  to  say ;  for  they  had  not  remained 
long,  having  reached  home  again  in  three  months. 
Their  maps  and  journals  are  all  lost;  but  we  know 
that  they  were  the  first  Europeans,  after  the  Northmen, 
to  visit  the  mainland  of  North  America. 

A  letter  from  a  Venetian  merchant,  who  was  then  in 
London,  says  that  great  honors  were  paid  to  John 
Cabot  on  his  return  to  England.  He  was  called  "  The 
Great  Admiral,"  went  about  richly  dressed  in  silk,  and 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


was  followed  by  crowds  of  admirers.  The  merchant's 
letter  adds,  "These  Englishmen  run  about  after  him 
like  mad  people;  so  that  he  can  enlist  as  many  of  them 
as  he  pleases,  and  a  number  of  our  own  rogues  besides." 
A  year  after,  in  1498,  Sebastian  Cabot  sailed  again 
with  two  ships,  and  three  hundred  men  ;  some  of  these 
being  Italian  "rogues,"  very  likely.  Such  expeditions 
were  very  popular  among  reckless  and  daring  men  in 
those  days.  The  explorers  again  went  to  Labrador, 

and  then  sailed  three  thou 
sand  miles  along  the  coast, 
as  far  as  Maryland.  They 
were  gone  six  months,  and 
then  had  to  go  back  for 
provisions.  This  second 
voyage  convinced  Sebas 
tian  Cabot  that  the  land 
they  had  discovered  was 
not  Asia,  after  all,  but  a 
new  continent.  He  made 
still  another  voyage  after 
this,  and  explored  Hud 
son's  Bay.  Sebastian  Cabot  lived  to  be  a  very  old  man, 
and  had  a  pension  from  the  king,  and  the  title  "  The 
Great  Seaman."  He  loved  the  sea  so  much,  that,  even 
while  he  was  dying,  his  wandering  thoughts  were  upon 
the  ocean.  It  was  said  of  him,  "  He  gave  England  a 
continent — and  no  one  knows  his  burial-place." 

The  next  expedition  of  which  I  have  to  tell  is  that  of 
Ponce  de  Leon  to  the  coast  of  Florida.  There  was  a 
story  told  in  Spain,  and  believed  by  many  people,  that 
there  was  somewhere  in  the  regions  discovered  by 


SEBASTIAN   CABOT. 


THE    SUCCESSORS    OF   COLUMBUS.  43 

Columbus  a  wonderful  fountain,  whose  waters  would 
restore  youth  to  any  one  who  should  bathe  in  them. 
Ponce  de  Leon  was  a  Spaniard  and  a  brave  soldier : 
he  had  sailed  with  Columbus  on  his  second  voyage,  and 
was  finally  made  governor  of  the  Island  of  Porto  Rico. 
But  he  had  heard  of  the  fountain  of  youth,  and  resolved 
to  discover  it ;  and  so  sailed  westward  from  Porto  Rico 
in  March,  1512,  on  that  errand.  At  last,  on  Easter 
Sunday,  —  a  day  which  the  Spaniards  call  Pascua  Flor 
ida,  or  Flowery  Easter,  —  land  was  seen.  It  was  the 
peninsula  of  Florida,  then  thought  to  be  an  island  ;  and 
its  blossoming  forests  seemed  to  him  so  beautiful,  that 
he  gave  it  this  name. 

Ponce  de  Leon  landed  near  what  is  now  St.  Augus 
tine.  He  explored  the  coasts  and  islands  for  many 
weeks,  and  then  returned  home.  He  visited  the  flowery 
land  again,  five  years  after,  meaning  to  establish  a 
colony,  but  was  driven  away  by  the  Indians,  was 
wounded  with  an  arrow,  and  went  back  to  Spain  to  die? 
without  ever  finding  the  fountain  of  youth. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  tell  of  other  voyages  that 
took  place  in  those  years,  when  the  New  World  seemed 
to  Europeans  so  very  new.  It  is  exciting  to  hear  how 
Balboa,  crossing  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  in  1513,  came, 
for  the  first  time,  in  sight  of  an  unknown  sea,  —  the 
vast  Pacific  Ocean  ;  how  he  knelt  on  the  mountain-top 
from  which  he  saw  it,  and  thanked  God  for  this  great 
discovery ;  and  how,  descending  to  the  shore,  he  waded 
in,  waist-deep,  and,  waving  his  sword,  took  possession 
of  the  ocean  for  the  King  of  Spain,  and  pledged  him 
self  to  defend  it  for  his  sovereign.  It  is  interesting  to 
read  the  adventures  of  Cortez,  who  conquered  Mexico, 


44  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

and  of  Pizarro,  who  overcame  Peru.  But,  as  these 
things  do  not  strictly  belong  to  the  history  of  the 
United  States,  this  is  not  the  place  to  describe  them  • 
and  I  shall  only  speak  of  one  more  of  the  early  voy 
ages,  that  of  Ver^azzano,  or  Verrazzani,  an  Italian  in 
French  employ.  v  • 

This  voyage  is  important,  because  Verrazzano  has  left 
us  the  earliest  full  description  of  the  North  American 
coast.  He  sailed  from  France,  by  way  of  Madeira,  in 
1524,  leaving  that  island  with  a  single  vessel,  and 
spending  fifty  days  before  seeing  land.  At  last  he 
reached  the  shore  of  North  Carolina,  and  followed  it 
southward  for  a  time ;  then  sailed  northward,  carefully 
examining  the  coast.  He  put  into  what  is  now  the  har 
bor  of  New  York,  and  afterwards  into  what  is  now  the 
harbor  of  Newport,  R.I.  There  he  staid  a  fortnight, 
trading  with  the  Indians  ;  and  he  mentions  that  he 
found  vines  and  grapes  there,  just  as  the  Northmen 
described  them  in  Vinland,  long  before.  Then  he 
sailed  along  the  New-England  coast  to  Nova  Scotia, 
still  trading  with  the  Indians  on  the  way.  His  narra 
tive,  as  translated  in  an  old  collection  of  voyages, 
describes  the  savages  as  "  coming  to  the  seashore  upon 
certain  craggy  rocks ;  and  we  standing  in  our  boats, 
they  let  down  with  a  rope  what  it  pleased  them  to  give 
us,  crying  continually  that  we  should  not  approache  to 
the  land,  demanding  immediately  the  exchange,  taking 
nothing  but  knives,  fish-hookes,  and  tooles  to  cut 
withal ;  neither  did  they  make  any  account  of  our  cour- 
tesie." 

Think  how  strange  it  would  be,  if  we  were  to  sail 
along  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  not  meet  so  much  as  a 


THE   SUCCESSORS    OF   COLUMBUS.  45 

fishing-vessel !  It  would  be  strange  never  to  see  a 
lighthouse,  a  buoy,  or  a  wharf ;  and  to  enter  New-York 
harbor,  and  see  only  a  few  wooded  hills  and  uninhabited 
islands,  but  no  sign  of  human  life,  except,  perhaps,  a 
half-naked  Indian  standing  on  the  shore.  Yet  this  is 
what  Verrazzano  did.  He  carried  home  full  accounts 
of  what  he  saw.  He  thought  that  the  savages  were  "  like 
the  people  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  China,"  and  that 
"  these  new  countries  were  not  altogether  destitute  of 
the  drugs  and  spicery,  pearls  and  gold,"  for  which  every 
body  was  so  eager.  King  Francis  I.  was  quite  de 
lighted.  He  said  that  he  "did  not  think  God  had 
created  those  new  countries  for  the  Castilians  alone  : " 
but  it  is  not  certain  whether  he  sent  out  a  second  expe 
dition  ;  or  whether  Verrazzano  made  any  more  voyages, 
or  what  became  of  him. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HOW  AMERICA   WAS   EXPLORED   AND   SETTLED. 

THESE  were  some  of  the  first  voyages  to  America, 
made  by  Columbus,  the  Cabots,  Ponce  de  Leon, 
and  Verrazzano.     But,  after  the   continent  was   fairly 
discovered,  the  next  question  was,  Who  should  explore 
it,  and  claim  it,  and  settle  it  ? 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  the  first  explorers 
of  North  America  were  very  much  like  a  family  of  boys 
who  have  discovered  a  large  pond  in  the  woods,  some 
where  within  reach  of  their  dwelling-house.  The  boys 
wish  to  be  always  on  the  water,  and  are  constantly  ex 
ploring.  They  have  different  objects  :  some  go  merely 
for  the  fun  of  it ;  others,  to  catch  fish ;  others,  to  look 
for  black-birds'  nests  among  the  reeds ;  others,  to  find 
a  shorter  route  to  the  village  or  to  the  schoolhouse. 
What  wonderful  stories  they  tell  their  little  sisters  about 
the  things  they  have  seen  by  the  side  of  the  lake  !  By 
degrees  they  know  the  whole  shore  very  well,  and  can 
find  their  way  anywhere.  Yet  if  they  were  to  sit  down 
at  night  to  draw  the  outline  of  that  shore  from  memory, 

—  with  all -the  ins  and  outs,  all  the  bays  and  the  islands, 

—  no  two  would  draw  it  alike ;  and  the  different  maps 
would  look  very  strangely  side  by  side. 

Now,  this  is  precisely  the  way  it  was  with  those  who 
46 


HOW   AMERICA   WAS    EXPLORED   AND    SETTLED.        47 

first  came  to  the  shores  of  the  North-American  Con 
tinent.  Everybody  wished  to  see  the  new  country. 
Everybody  who  came  saw  something  wonderful ;  and 
each  described  even  more  wonders  than  he  had  seen. 
The  returning  sailors  told  of  giants  and  Amazons,  of 
countries  where  the  sands  sparkled  with  gems,  and 
of  rivers  in  which  were  found  golden  pebbles  as 
large  as  hens'  eggs.  So  there  was  immediately  the 
greatest  eagerness  to  undertake  voyages  to  these  new 
lands.  Some  large  towns  in  Spain  lost  half  their  inhab 
itants,  so  many  people  went  on  these  expeditions.  The 
Spaniards  generally  went  for  gold  ;  the  Portuguese,  for 
slaves ;  and  the  French  and  English,  for  the  sake  of 
fishing.  Many  people  still  believed  that  this  new 
country  was  India,  of  which  they  had  known  something 
before.  But  the  more  learned  people — the  geographers, 
and  those  who  made  the  maps — now  thought  that  these 
new  lands  were  not  a  part  of  India,  but  were  a  series 
of  islands,  called  "  Cuba,"  "  Florida,"  "  America,"  and 
so  on ;  and  they  expected  to  find  among  these  islands 
a  passage  that  would  lead  to  China  and  Japan.  It 
may  be  seen  by  this  map,  made  thirty-eight  years  after 
the  first  voyage  of  Columbus,  just  how  these  wise  men 
supposed  these  islands  to  lie ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that 
India  and  China  (Cathay)  and  Japan  (Cipango)  are 
placed  just  behind  them,  as  if  easily  to  be  reached.  \  * 
When  there  was  so  much  curiosity  about  exploring 
the  New  World,  we  should  suppose  that  they  would 
have  soon  learned  its  outline  thoroughly.  But  they 
were  just  like  the  boys  by  the  lake.  There  was  not  a 
harbor  along  the  Atlantic  shore,  from  Labrador  to 
Terra  del  Fuego,  that  had  not  been  entered  before  this 


nj^ 

tlERABt  LOS     / 

? 


COAST   OF   NORTH   AMERICA,    FROM    MAPS   MADE    BETWEEN    1534   AND    1560. 


HOW   AMERICA   WAS    EXPLORED   AND   SETTLED.        49 

map  was  made.  But  no  one  captain  had  visited  all 
the  harbors.  Nobody  knew  about  the  interior  of  the 
country,  or  its  general  form ;  and  so  no  two  explorers 
agreed  about  the  actual  shape  of  the  coast.  When 
they  came  to  draw  its  outline,  we  can  see  what  work 
they  made,  if  we  look  at  this  series  of  sketches,  taken 


FROM  MAP  OF   IS3O. 

from  old  maps  made  between  1534  and  1560.  The 
River  St.  Lawrence  seemed  to  puzzle  them  particu 
larly:  sometimes  they  made  it  run  south,  and  some 
times  east;  and,  as  for  Cape  Cod,  it  appears  in  all 
manner  of  shapes. 

But  even  after  Europeans  had  begun  to  understand 
how  large  the  new  region  was,  and  after  they  had 
improved  in  map-drawing,  there  came  the  still  more 
puzzling  question,  To  whom  was  it  all  to  belong  ? 

Here,  again,  these  great  nations  were  very  much  like 
4 


50  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

boys  who  have  explored  the  shores  of  a  lake,  and  who 
play  at  taking  possession  of  its  different  islands  and 
capes.  Perhaps  a  boy  has  claimed  a  part  of  the  shore 
for  his  own,  and  has  given  his  name  to  it ;  perhaps  he  has 
cut  his  name  on  a  tree  as  a  sign  of  ownership :  but,  as 
soon  as  he  is  gone,  another  boy  may  come  and  seize  it, 
and  give  it  another  name.  There  is  no  way  to  keep  it, 
except  to  stay  and  guard  it ;  and  this  is  what  few  will 
take  the  trouble  to  do.  Just  so  it  was  with  these 
nations.  The  Spaniards  wished  to  own  all  they  had 
explored ;  so  did  the  French ;  so  did  the  English : 
but  nobody  liked  very  well  to  stay  there  and  keep  pos 
session.  Each  claimed  a  certain  portion  by  right  of 
discovery :  the  trouble  was  to  occupy  what  they  claimed. 
But  at  last  the  Spaniards  made  some  permanent  set 
tlements  in  Mexico,  and  one  at  St.  Augustine,  Fla. 
There  is  the  quaint  old  town  to  this  very  day,  with  some 
of  the  fortifications  they  built.  It  was  founded  in  1565, 
and  is  the  oldest  town  in  the  United  States.  Then 
the  French  settled  Nova  Scotia  (in  1605)  ;  but  it  looked 
very  much  as  if  there  would  never  be  any  English  set 
tlements  in  North  America. 

We  must  remember,  that,  in  those  days,  the  name 
"  North  America  "  had  been  scarcely  heard.  As  you  will 
see  on  the  map  of  the  new  discoveries,  the  name  of 
"America"  was  given  first  to  South  America,  which 
Americus  Vespucius  had  visited  and  described,  and 
which  was  supposed  to  be  an  island.  But  North  Amer 
ica  was  usually  called  "  Florida "  by  the  Spaniards ; 
while  the  French  called  it  "  Francesca,"  or  "  Canada," 
or  "  New  France."  After  a  while,  it  came  to  be  gener 
ally  understood  between  these  two  nations,  that,  some 


HOW  AMERICA   WAS    EXPLORED   AND   SETTLED.       51 

how  or  other,  they  owned  it  all  between  them.  In  the 
National  Library  at  Paris,  I  saw  an  old  French  globe, 
made  about  three  hundred  years  ago,  and  one  of  the 
largest  globes  ever  made.  On  this  globe  the  northern 
part  of  the  Atlantic  shore  is  called,  in  great  capital 
letters,  "  Canada,  or  New  France "  ("  La  Nouvelle 
France") ;  and  all  the  southern  part  is  called  "Florida." 
The  name  "North  America"  does  not  appear  at  all. 
The  New  York  Historical  Society  owns  a  smaller  globe, 
with  much  the  same  divisions :  this  was  made  in  Spain, 
in  1542.  That  was  the  view  the  French  and  Spaniards 
took  of  the  subject  in  those  days.  They  did  not  dream 
that  the  time  was  coming  when  neither  France  nor  Spain 
would  own  a  foot  of  land  in  North  America. 

But  the  English  had  never  forgotten,  all  this  time, 
that  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot,  with  English  ships,  had 
first  reached  the  mainland  of  North  America.  So  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  and  other  gallant  men  made  several 
unsuccessful  attempts  to  found  colonies.  They  were 
determined  to  take  possession  of  that  great  region 
between  Canada  and  Florida;  and  they  named  it  "Vir 
ginia,"  after  their  queen,  Elizabeth,  who  liked  to  be 
called  "  the  Virgin  Queen."  But  it  was  very  hard  to 
make  the  colonists  stay  there  in  the  wild  forests  and 
among  the  Indians  ;  and  so  colony  after  colony  failed. 
One  was  attempted,  for  instance,  on  an  island  now 
called  "  Cuttyhunk,"  in  Buzzard's  Bay,  Mass.  The 
leader  was  Bartholomew  Gosnold ;  but  he  only  staid 
a  few  months,  and  then  went  back  to  England  with 
a  cargo  of  sassafras-root,  which  was  sold  for  a  high 
price.  Another  famous  colony  was  not  so  fortunate,  — 
that  founded  on  Roanoke  Island  in  Virginia.  The 


52  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

first  child  of  English  parents  on  American  soil  was  born 
there,  and  was  named  "Virginia  Dare."  She  was  grand 
child  of  the  governor  of  the  settlement.  He  went  to 
England  without  his  family,  and  was  gone  several  years  ; 
and,  when  he  came  back,  the  whole  colony  had  disap 
peared  ;  and  no  one  has  ever  discovered  what  became 
of  little  Virginia  and  her  companions. 

Thus  colony  after  colony  proved  unsuccessful ;  and, 
for  a  long  time,  the  most  important  results  of  the  new 
discoveries,  so  far  as  England  was  concerned,  appeared 
to  be  the  introduction  of  potatoes  and  tobacco.  They 
are  both  said  to  have  been  made  known  through  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh ;  and  it  is  said  that  when,  after  one  of 
his  voyages,  he  sat  smoking  in  his  room  in  England, 
some  one  threw  a  pail  of  water  over  him,  supposing 
him  to  be  on  fire. 

Finally,  in  April,  1606,  King  James  I.  granted  a 
charter  to  two  companies  formed  in  England.  This 
charter  gave  them  the  whole  continent  of  North  Amer 
ica,  from  the  thirty-fourth  to  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of 
latitude.  That  left  the  French  undisturbed  at  the  north, 
and  the  Spaniards  at  the  south ;  and  yet  it  included  all 
the  present  States  along  the  Atlantic,  north  of  South 
Carolina,  except  a  part  of  Maine.  As  was  said  before, 
all  this  territory  was  called  "  Virginia  "  by  the  English. 
The  books  of  that  day  said,  "  Virginia  is  that  country 
of  the  earth  which  the  ancients  called  Morosa,  between 
Florida  and  New  France." 

Moreover,  the  king  decided  that  this  territory  should 
be  further  divided  into  two  parts.  The  London  Com 
pany  must  take  the  southern  half,  and  the  Plymouth 
Company  the  northern  half ;  and  their  nearest  settle- 


HOW    AMERICA    WAS    EXPLORED    AND    SETTLED.        53 

merits  must   be  a  hundred  miles  apart,  so  that  there 
should  be  no  quarrelling. 

Then  the  two  companies  sent  out  their  colonies  about 
the  same  time.  The  southern  colony  reached  James 
town,  Va.,  in  April,  1607  ;  and  the  northern  colony  ar 
rived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  River  in  August 
of  the  same  year.  The  southern  colonists  remained, 
and  founded  what  is  now  the  State  of  Virginia ;  but 


ENGLISH   SHIP   OF   THE   SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

the  Maine  colonists  gave  up  their  enterprise  very  soon. 
Most  of  them  went  back  to  England  in  the  autumn  ; 
but  a  portion  staid  till  spring,  building  a  storehouse, 
with  a  fort,  which  was  called  "  Fort  St.  George."  But 
they  suffered  great  hardships ;  and  in  the  spring  their 
leader,  George  Popham,  died,  and  all  the  survivors 
returned  home.  If  they  had  remained,  Maine  would 
have  been  permanently  settled  almost  as  early  as  Vir 
ginia.  The  colonists  under  Popham  did  some  good  by 


54  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

helping  to  establish  the  English  title  to  the  country ; 
but  they  did  harm  by  telling  everybody,  after  their 
return,  that  New  England  was  too  cold  to  be  inhabited. 
This  so  discouraged  the  people  who  had  thought  of 
emigrating,  that  it  was  more  than  twelve  years  before 
another  colony  came  to  New  England.  Thus  Virginia 
was  the  oldest  of  the  English  colonies ;  but  I  shall  tell 
their  story  in  geographical  order,  beginning  with  the 
New  England  States,  because  this  arrangement  will  be 
easier  to  remember,  and  less  confusing,  than  to  regard 
only  the  order  of  time. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   MASSACHUSETTS  COLONIES. 
THE    PLYMOUTH    COLONY. 

MORE  than  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  there 
was  a  time  of  great  religious  persecution  in 
England.  People  had  not  then  learned  to  leave  each 
other  free  to  worship,  or  to  abstain  from  worship,  in 
their  own  way.  If  a  man  did  not  attend  the  services 
of  the  Established  Church  of  England,  he  was  liable  to 
be  severely  punished ;  and,  if  he  attended  any  other 
religious  service,  it  might  lead  to  exile  or  death.  So 
a  great  many  of  the  persecuted  people  went  to  live 
in  Holland,  where  there  was  more  religious  freedom. 
There  they  dwelt  in  peace,  and  won  the  respect  of  all. 
The  Dutch  magistrates  said,  "These  English  have 
lived  among  us  now  these  twelve  years,  and  yet  we 
never  had  any  suit  or  accusation  against  any  of  them." 
But,  when  children  began  to  grow  up  around  them, 
these  exiles  thought  that  they  would  rather  teach  their 
boys  and  girls  the  English  language,  and  give  them  an 
English  education.  Besides,  war  between  the  Dutch 
and  Spaniards  was  just  beginning  again,  after  ten 
years  of  peace  ;  and  this  caused  the  English  emigrants 
much  anxiety.  They  had  to  work  very  hard,  too,  and 

55 


56  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

began  to  wish  that  they  could  be  laboring  to  found  a 
settlement  of  their  own,  where  they  could  feel  at  home. 
Above  all,  they  wished  to  do  something,  as  they  said, 
"  for  the  propagating  and  advancing  the  gospel  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  world." 
So  they  decided  to  leave  Holland  for  the  unexplored 
continent  of  America,  where  there  was  as  yet  no 
English  settlement  but  in  Virginia.  Even  before  they 
had  resolved  on  this,  they  had  been  called  familiarly 
by  the  name  of  "  Pilgrims ; "  because  they  were  wander 
ing  from  place  to  place  on  the  way  "  to  heaven,  their 
dearest  country,"  as  they  said. 

So,  out  of  a  thousand  English  Pilgrims  in  Holland, 
about  a  hundred  were  selected  to  go  to  America, — 
"  such  of  the  youngest  and  strongest  as  freely  offered 
themselves."  They  procured  two  small  vessels,  the 
"Speedwell,"  of  sixty  tons,  and  the  "Mayflower,"  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty  tons ;  this  last  being  intended 
to  sail  from  Southampton,  England.  In  July,  1620,  the 
"  Speedwell  "  sailed  from  Delft-Haven.  The  Pilgrims 
had  religious  services  before  sailing ;  and  their  old 
minister,  John  Robinson,  said  in  his  address  to  them, 
"  I  charge  you,  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels,  that 
you  follow  me  no  further  than  you  have  seen  me  follow 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Lord  has  more  truth  yet 
to  break  out  of  his  holy  word."  Then  they  were  feasted 
at  the  pastor's  house;  and  one  of  them  wrote,  "We 
refreshed  ourselves,  after  tears,  with  singing  of  psalms, 
making  joyful  melody  in  our  hearts,  as  well  as  with  the 
voice ;  there  being  many  of  the  congregation  very  ex 
pert  in  music  ;  and  indeed  it  was  the  sweetest  melody 
that  mine  ears  ever  heard." 


THE    PLYMOUTH   COLONY. 


57 


"  After  this,"  he  adds,  "  they  accompanied  us  to  Delft- 
Haven,  to  the  ship,  but  were  not  able  to  speak  one  to 
another,  for  the  abundance  of  sorrow  to  part.  But  we 
only,  going  aboard,  gave  them  a  volley  of  small-shot, 
and  three  pieces  of  ordnance ;  and  so,  lifting  up  our 
hands  to  each  other,  and  our  hearts  for  each  other  and 
the  Lord  our  God,  we  departed." 


THE    '    MAYFLOWER. 


Thus  the  Pilgrims  set  sail  without  aid  from  govern 
ment,  and  without  any  royal  charter,  for  the  New 
World.  After  touching  at  three  English  ports,  they  still 
had  a  long  passage  of  sixty-three  days.  The  "  Speed 
well  "  proved  unseaworthy,  and  put  back  ;  while  the 
"  Mayflower  "  went  on  alone.  Instead  of  reaching  the 
Hudson  River,  where  they  l^ad  meant  to  go,  they  were 
driven  by  storms  to  the  Massachusetts  shqre.  For  a 


58  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

month  they  sailed  up  and  down,  looking  for  a  favorable 
harbor  along  the  coast.  It  was  a  barren  region  ;  but  it 
seemed  pleasant  to  them  after  the  sea.  They  saw  pines, 
junipers,  sassafras,  "  and  other  sweet  woods,"  growing 
on  the  shore.  They  found,  their  narrative  says,  "  the 
greatest  store  of  fowl  that  ever  we  saw."  They  saw 
whales ;  and,  when  they  fired  at  one,  the  gun  exploded, 
when  "the  whale  gave  a  snuff,  and  away."  When 
they  first  went  ashore,  sixteen  men  landed,  "with 
every  man  his  musket,  sword,  and  corselet,"  headed 
by  Capt.  Miles  Standish.  They  saw  "  five  or  six  peo 
ple,  with  a  dogge,  who  were  savages."  These  all  ran 
away,  and  "whistled  the  dogge  after  them."  At 
last,  in  a  valley,  the  Pilgrims  saw  a  deer,  and  found 
springs  of  fresh  water ;  "  of  which  we  were  heartily 
glad,"  the  narrative  says,  "  and  set  us  downe,  and 
drunke  our  first  New  England  water  with  as  much  de 
light  as  ever  we  drunke  drink  in  all  our  lives."  Then 
they  found  a  grave,  with  mats  and  bowls,  and  the  skele 
ton  of  a  man  and  that  of  a  little  child  buried  together. 
Perhaps  it  was  pleasant  to  them  to  see  that  parents  and 
children  loved  each  other,  even  among  wild  Indians. 
Then  they  found  a  great  basket  of  Indian  corn,  buried 
in  the  ground.  This  they  took,  and  afterwards,  find 
ing  the  owners,  paid  for  it.  They  killed  three  fat  geese 
and  six  ducks,  which  they  ate  "with  soldier  stom 
achs,"  their  story  says. 

At  last  they  came  into  a  harbor  to  which  an  earlier 
explorer,  Capt.  John  Smith,  had  given  the  name  of 
"  Plymouth."  They  fixed  on  this  as  a  good  place  for 
their  settlement ;  and  on  the  2ist  of  December,  1620, 
they  landed.  A  young  girl  named  Mary  Chilton  is  said 


THE   PLYMOUTH   COLONY.  59 

to  have  been  the  very  first  to  step  on  Plymouth  Rock. 
But,  before  landing,  they  had  held  a  meeting  in  the 
cabin  of  the  "  Mayflower,"  and  agreed  that  every  man 
in  the  colony  should  have  an  equal  share  in  the  govern 
ment.  They  chose  John  Carver  for  their  first  governor  ; 
and  they  also  formed  a  military  company,  with  Capt. 
Miles  Standish  to  command  it.  The  soldiers  had 
each  a  coat  of  mail,  and  a  sword,  and  a  match-lock  mus 
ket  ;  and  we  shall  see  hereafter  how  well  they  defended 
the  colony. 

Then  they  brought  on  shore  all  their  possessions,  such 
as  we  may  see  at  this  day  preserved  as  relics  in  Pil 
grim  Hall,  at  Plymouth,  —  arm-chairs  and  spinning- 
wheels,  and  Miles  Stand- 
ish's  great  iron  dinner- 
kettle,  and  little  Lora 
Standish's  sampler,  and  the 
cradle  of  Peregrine  White, 
the  baby  who  was  born  on 
board  the  "  Mayflower," 

and  Who  Was  named  "  Pere-  PEREGRINE  WHITE'S  CRADLE. 

grine  "  from  the  peregrinations  of  the  Pilgrims. 

Landing  in  early  winter  on  that  cold,  bleak  shore, 
they  began  at  once  to  build  houses.  There  were  one 
hundred  and  two  persons  to  be  provided  with  shelter. 
First  they  built  a  common  house  as  a  temporary  abode 
for  all ;  then  they  divided  themselves  into  nineteen 
families ;  and  by  degrees  a  house  was  built  for  each. 
These  houses  were  of  logs  and  mortar,  with  thatched 
roofs,  and  with  windows  of  oiled  paper.  The  rooms 
were  so  crowded,  that  they  were  "  as  full  of  beds  as 
they  could  lie,  one  by  another."  Then  they  built  a 


60  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

great  shed  for  the  public  goods,  and  a  small  hospital 
for  the  sick,  and  a  church,  which  had  four  cannon 
planted  on  the  top  for  defence.  Here  they  could  have 
their  religious  services  in  safety,  with  good  Elder 
Brewster  for  their  minister.  As  for  food,  they  lived  by 
hunting  and  fishing,  till  they  could  raise  corn.  Some 
times  they  killed  deer  and  wild  turkeys.  They  caught 
shad  and  cod ;  took  lobsters  and  shell-fish.  The  Indi 
ans  taught  them  to  shoot  fish  with  arrows,  and  to  tread 
eels  out  of  the  mud  with  their  feet.  Once  they  tried  to 
eat  an  eagle,  and  thought  it  tasted  "  very  much  like  a 
sheep."  For  several  years  they  had  no  cattle,  and 
could  scarcely  have  kept  any,  because  of  the  lions,  as 
they  called  the  wolves,  which  came  close  to  the  town. 
Often  they  suffered  for  want  of  food  ;  often  "  they 
knew  not  at  night  where  to  have  a  bit  in  the  morning." 
"  I  have  seen  men,"  says  one  of  their  number,  "  stagger 
by  reason  of  faintness  for  want  of  food."  What  with 
hardship  and  exposure,  just  one-half  of  their  number 
died  during  the  first  winter,  including  their  first  govern 
or  ;  and  they  planted  corn-fields  to  conceal  the  graves, 
so  that  the  Indians  might  not  know  how  weak  they  were 
growing.  Yet  in  the  spring,  when  the  "  Mayflower  " 
returned  to  England,  not  one  of  these  brave  colonists 
went  back.  Women  with  sick  children  preferred  to 
stay  in  this  comfortless  country  rather  than  live  in 
comfort  at  home.  s^S 

THE    MASSACHUSETTS    COLONY. 

While  the  Pilgrims  were  thus  establishing  themselves 
at  Plymouth,  there  were  some  temporary  English  settle- 


THE    MASSACHUSETTS    COLONY.  6 1 

ments  made  at  other  places  along  the  coast.  But  the 
principal  colony  was  yet  to  be  founded.  On  the  2gth 
of  June,  1629,  there  came  sailing  into  what  is  now 
Salem  harbor  five  vessels,  one  of  these  being  the  self 
same  "  Mayflower  "  that  had  first  brought  the  Pilgrims. 
They  had  been  six  weeks  and  three  days  at  sea ;  and 
the  passengers  called  the  voyage  "  short  and  speedy." 
It  had  been  a  prosperous  voyage  ;  and  the  only  person 
who  described  it  says,  "  Our  passage  was  both  pleas 
urable  and  profitable  ;  for  we  received  instruction  and 
delight  in  beholding  the  wonders  of  the  Lord  in  the 
deep  waters,  and  sometimes  seeing  the  sea  round  us 
appearing  with  a  terrible  countenance,  and,  as  it  were, 
full  of  high  hills  and  deep  valleys  ;  and  sometimes  it 
appeared  as  a  most  plain  and  even  meadow."  Then, 
when  they  came  along  the  coast,  the  same  writer  says, 
"  By  noon  we  were  within  three  leagues  of  Cape  Ann  ; 
and,  as  we  sailed  along  the  coast,  we  saw  every  hill 
and  dale,  and  every  island,  full  of  gay  woods  and  high 
trees.  The  nearer  we  came  to  the  shore,  the  more 
flowers  in  abundance  ;  sometimes  scattered  abroad, 
sometimes  joined  in  sheets  nine  or  ten  yards  long, 
which  we  supposed  to  be  brought  from  the  low  mead 
ows  by  the  tide.  Now,  what  with  pine-woods  and  green 
trees  by  land,  and  these  yellow  flowers  painting  the  sea, 
made  us  all  desirous  to  see  our  new  paradise  of  New 
England,  whence  we  saw  such  forerunning  signals  of 
fertility  afar  off."  How  unlike  the  first  approach  of  the 
Pilgrims  to  Cape  Cod  in  the  frosty  autumn  weather ! 

This  new  colony  was  called  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony.  John  Endicott  had  preceded  it,  with  a  few 
men,  the  year  before,  and  had  been  appointed  governor 


62  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

of  the  colony.  He  left  no  account  of  his  voyage. 
Those  who  came  in  the  five  ships  whose  arrival  I  have 
just  described  were  Rev.  Francis  Higginson  and  two 
hundred  more.  They  came  in  1629.  Then,  the  next 
year,  Gov.  John  Winthrop  came  with  eight  hundred. 
The  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  was  large,  strong,  and 
rich,  compared  with  that  at  Plymouth.  It  included 
many  highly-educated  men  and  some  rich  men.  They 
had  powerful  friends  in  England ;  and  they  had  a  char 
ter  from  the  king,  securing  to  them  the  right  to  govern 
themselves,  so  long  as  they  did  nothing  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  England.  They  founded  the  town  of  Salem, 
which  they  called  by  that  name,  because  in  Hebrew  it 
signified  "Peace."  Afterwards  they  settled  Boston, — 


TRIMOUNTAIN. 


at  first  called  Trimountain,  from  its  three  hills,  —  and 
also  Roxbury,  Dorchester,  Charlestown,  Watertown,  and 
other  places. 

These  colonists  were  not  "  Pilgrims  "  from  Holland, 
or  "  Separatists,"  as  the  Plymouth  colonists  were  some 
times  called ;  but  they  were  "  Puritans,"  or  religious 
reformers,  who  came  from  England,  hoping  to  find 
more  freedom  for  themselves  in  America.  They  had 
been  persecuted  for  their  opinions  at  home,  though  not 
so  severely  as  the  Pilgrims  ;  and  the  Puritans  at  first 


THE    MASSACHUSETTS   COLONY.  63 

thought  that  the  Pilgrims  did  not  feel  kindly  enough 
toward  the  mother-country.  It  is  reported  that  Francis 
Higginson  said,  as  his  ship  sailed  away  from  the  Eng 
lish  shores,  "We  will  not  say,  as  the  Separatists  were 
wont  to  say  at  their  leaving  of  England,  'Farewell, 
Babylon  !  Farewell,  Rome  ! '  But  we  will  say,  '  Fare 
well,  dear  England !  Farewell,  the  Church  of  God  in 
England,  and  all  the  Christian  friends  there  ! '  "  How 
ever,  when  they  got  to  America,  there  was  not  much 
difference  between  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth,  and  the 
Puritans  at  Salem.  At  least,  both  colonies  soon  grew 
quite  independent  of  the  ways  and  authority  of  the 
Church  of  England. 

But,  for  all  their  larger  numbers  and  greater  wealth, 
the  Massachusetts  colonists  suffered  almost  as  much 
hardship  as  the  Plymouth  settlers  had  undergone.  They 
had,  to  be  sure,  from  the  beginning,  horses  and  cattle 
and  tools.  But  one  of  the  early  colonists  wrote,  "  Bread 
was  so  very  scarce,  that  sometimes  I  thought  the  very 
crumbs  of  my  father's  table  would  be  sweet  unto  me. 
And,  when  I  could  have  meal  and  water  and  salt  boiled 
together,  it  was  so  good,  who  could  wish  better  ?  .  .  . 
The  Indians  did  sometimes  bring  corn,  and  truck  with 
us  for  clothing  and  knives ;  and  once  I  had  a  peck  of 
corn,  or  thereabouts,  for  a  little  puppy-dog.  Frost-fish, 
mussels,  and  clams  were  a  relief  unto  many."  Another 
writer  describes  how  the  women  in  the  seaside  settle 
ments  used  to  go  down  to  the  beach  every  day,  at  low 
tide,  and  dig  for  shell-fish.  "  It  would  have  been  a 
strange  thing,"  says  another,  "  to  see  a  piece  of  roast 
beef  or  mutton  or  veal."  One  day,  just  as  Governor 
Winthrop  was  giving  away  the  last  handful  of  meal  he 


64  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

possessed  to  a  poor  man,  they  saw  a  ship  from  Eng 
land,  with  provisions,  just  entering  the  harbor. 

A  good  many  died  of  hardship  and  fatigue  during 
the  first  year  or  two  ;  but,  after  that,  they  grew  quite 
healthy.  They  found  the  climate  bracing ;  and  one 
said,  that  "  a  sup  of  New  England's  air  was  better  than 
a  whole  draught  of  Old  England's  ale."  Even  in  their 
worst  times,  very  few  went  back  to  England  ;  and,  not 
withstanding  their  poverty,  there  was  not  an  instance 
of  theft  among  them  for  four  years.  Governor  Win- 
throp  wrote  to  his  wife,  "  We  here  enjoy  God  and  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  is  not  that  enough  ?  I  thank  God  I  like  so 
well  to  be  here  as  [that]  I  do  not  repent  my  coming. 
I  would  not  have  altered  my  course,  though  I  had  fore 
seen  all  these  afflictions.  I  had  never  more  content  of 
mind." 

These  two  colonies,  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts 
Bay,  were  for  many  years  independent  of  one  another ; 
but  the  Plymouth  Colony,  though  the  older  of  the  two, 
grew  far  more  slowly  than  the  other,  and  was  at  last 
united  with  it,  in  1692,  under  the  name  of  Massachu 
setts  ;  the  name  being  taken  from  one  of  the  tribes  of 
Indians  inhabiting  the  soil.  The  meaning  of  the  word 
is  said  to  be  "  Blue  Hills." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  OTHER  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES. 


THE  two  colonies,  afterwards  united  under  the 
name  of  Massachusetts,  have  been  described 
before  the  other  New  England  colonies.  This  is  be 
cause  Massachusetts,  being  first  settled,  was  in  a  man 
ner  the  parent  of  these  later  colonies.  Let  us  take  up 
the  rest  in  the  ordinary  geographical  order. 

Maine  was  not  for  many  years  considered  as  a  sepa 
rate  colony  ;  and  yet  it  was  one  of  the  first  parts  of 
the  country  to  be  visited  and  explored  by  Europeans. 
It  was  visited  by  the  navigator  Gosnold  in  1602  ;  and 
an  English  colony  tried  to  establish  itself  there  in  1607, 
as  has  already  been  told  ;  and  a  French  colony  came 
soon  after.  But  the  English  settlers  went  home  ;  and 
the  Frenchmen  were  driven  away  by  the  Virginia  set 
tlers,  who  did  not  wish  to  have  them  so  near,  and  sent 
an  expedition  against  them.  Capt.  John  Smith  ex 
plored  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  wrote  a  description  of 
it ;  and  an  Englishman,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  had  a 
patent  from  the  king,  Charles  I.,  for  a  part  of  it ;  and  it 
was  named  Maine  by  him,  probably  in  honor  of  Queen 
Henrietta  Maria,  who  is  said  to  have  owned  a  French 
province  of  that  name  ;  though  this  is  doubtful.  Then 
the  Massachusetts  Colony  claimed  the  whole ;  and  so 
s  65 


66  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

there  was  a  good  deal  of  confusion  about  the  owner 
ship  of  that  region.  But  Maine  was,  after  all,  reck 
oned  a  part  of  Massachusetts  during  almost  all  the 
colonial  period,  and  for  many  years  after. 

The  first  settlements  grew  gradually  out  of  fishing- 
stations  ;  and  it  is  hard  to  say  when  the  earliest  perma 
nent  town  settlements  were  founded  ;  before  1630,  at 
any  rate.  People  sought  Maine  for  hunting  and  fish 
ing,  rather  than  for  farming :  so  the  villages  grew 
slowly,  and  they  suffered  greatly  in  the  Indian  wars. 
The  laws  were  milder  in  that  part  of  New  England 
than  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  There  was 
much  religious  freedom,  and  no  persecution  for  opinion's 
sake  j  so  that  persecuted  people  often  took  refuge  in 
Maine.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  nearness  to  Cana 
da  was  a  disadvantage  ;  because  the  French  and  Indi 
ans  were  for  many  years  the  great  source  of  terror  to 
the  English  colonists.  So  these  settlements  had  much 
to  keep  them  back ;  and  Maine  was  not  counted  as  a 
separate  colony  among  those  that  finally  combined  to 
form  the  United  States. 

New  Hampshire  was  also  visited  very  early,  in 
1603,  by  an  explorer  named  Martin  Pring;  and  Ports 
mouth  and  Dover  were  settled  in  1623.  Portsmouth 
was  first  called  Strawberry  Bank.  The  settlements 
made  there  were  chiefly  for  fishing ;  and  it  is  said,  that 
when  a  travelling  preacher  went  among  the  people,  ten 
years  later,  and  told  them  that  they  must  be  religious, 
for  that  was  their  main  end  in  coming  thither,  they  re 
plied,  "  Sir,  you  are  mistaken.  You  think  you  are 
speaking  to  the  people  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Out 


THE    OTHER    NEW    ENGLAND   COLONIES.  67 

main  end  was  to  catch  fish."  The  colony  grew  very 
slowly  •  and,  thirty  years  after  the  settlement  of  Ports 
mouth,  that  town  contained  only  fifty  or  sixty  fami 
lies.  New  Hampshire  was  several  times  connected 
with  Massachusetts  in  government,  and  at  one  time 
with  New  York  ;  but,  after  1741,  it  was  a  separate  prov 
ince,  under  a  royal  governor,  who  lived  in  much  style 
and  elegance  at  Portsmouth.  There  are  still  to  be 
seen  in  that  part  of  the  State  the  fine  dwellings  of 
colonial  days. 

Gov.  Benning  Wentworth  of  New  Hampshire 
claimed  that  the  lands  of  that  colony  extended  through 
what  is  now  Vermont ;  and  as  his  Excellency  asserted 
the  right  to  give  away  townships  west  of  the  Connecti 
cut  River,  and  to  reserve  for  himself  five  hundred 
acres  in  every  township,  it  is  plain  that  it  was  a  profita 
ble  thing  to  be  a  colonial  governor  in  New  Hamp 
shire.  Then  the  more  northern  townships  were  grad 
ually  filled  up  by  immigrants  from  Scotland  arnd  Ire 
land  ;  and,  by  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution, 
New  Hampshire  was  a  strong  and  independent  colony. 
It  took  its  name  from  the  English  county  of  Hamp 
shire,  whence  some  of  the  early  settlers  came. 

Vermont  was  first  explored  in  1609,  by  Champlain,  a 
French  officer,  after  whom  Lake  Champlain  was  named. 
It  had,  however,  no  European  settlers  for  more  than  a 
century  after  that ;  and,  down  to  the  time  of  the  Amer 
ican  Revolution,  it  was  not  recognized  as  a  separate 
colony,  but  was  known  as  the  "  New  Hampshire 
Grants,"  on  account  of  the  townships  that  Governor 
Wentworth  had  granted.  But  the  governor  of  New 


68  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

York  also  claimed  to  control  these  same  "  grants  ;  * 
and  Ethan  Allen  and  the  other  "  Green  Mountain 
Boys,"  as  they  were  called,  refused  to  submit  to  New 
York,  and  wished  to  be  independent  of  the  other  colo 
nies.  It  was,  however,  long  before  they  succeeded  in 
this ;  and  the  history  of  their  efforts  must  therefore  be 
postponed  for  a  good  many  pages.  The  name  "Ver 
mont  "  means  simply  "  Green  Mountain." 

\  \ 
\j 

Rhode  Island  was  founded  quite  differently  from 
any  of  the  other  New  England  settlements ;  for  it  was 
established  mainly  by  those  who  had  fled  from  reli 
gious  persecution  in  another  colony.  The  founders  of 
Massachusetts  came  to  America  to  secure  freedom  for 
the  exercise  of  their  own  religious  opinions ;  but  they 
did  this  because  they  thought  those  opinions  were 
right,  not  because  they  believed  in  the  general  princi 
ple  of  toleration.  The  idea  of  liberty  in  matters  of 
religion  was  not  very  common  in  those  days ;  and  the 
very  men  who  were  most  conscientious  in  maintaining 
their  own  views  of  things  were  often  the  most  zealous 
in  putting  down  all  those  who  differed  from  them. 
But  one  young  minister  came  out  to  America  who  be 
lieved  in  religious  freedom,  not  only  for  his  own  opin 
ions,  but  for  those  of  all  others.  His  name  was  Roger 
Williams.  He  said  that  the  magistrates  of  a  country 
should  behave  like  the  captain  of  a  ship,  who  lets  his 
passengers  have  any  kind  of  religious  meeting  they 
please  on  board,  so  long  as  they  keep  the  peace,  and 
do  not  quarrel.  He  thought  that  the  law  ought  to  be 
used  to  keep  people  from  crime,  but  that  it  had  nothing 
to  do  with  their  religious  belief.  He  did  not  approve 


THE    OTHER    NEW    ENGLAND    COLONIES.  69 

of  obliging  people  to  attend  church,  unless  they  wished 
to  do  it.  He  did  not  think  it  right  to  choose  the 
magistrates  from  the  church-members  only,  or  to  make 
people  pay  to  support  the  church,  unless  they  wished. 
He  was  not  always  moderate  or  judicious  in  his  way  of 
expressing  these  opinions  :  but  most  people  would  now 
admit  that  his  views  on  toleration  were  right  and  wise. 
He,  however,  held  also  some  peculiar  opinions  as  to  the 
authority  of  civil  magistrates  in  any  case  ;  and  those 
views  gave  tolhe  Puritans  some  just  ground  of  com 
plaint.  j\^ 

At  last  he  talked  so  boldly  against  the  established 
laws,  that  the  Massachusetts  magistrates  decided  to 
send  him  back  to  England.  He  heard  of  this  intention, 
and  fled,  in  mid-winter,  from  his  home  in  Salem,  and 
wandered  in  the  wilderness  for  fourteen  weeks,  "  sorely 
tost  in  a  bitter  season,  not  knowing  what  bread  or  bed 
did  mean."  This  was  in  January,  1636.  First  he  set 
tled  at  Seekonk,  within  the  Plymouth  Colony ;  but,  being 
advised  by  Governor  Winthrop  to  "  steer  his  course " 
to  the  Narragansett  Bay,  he  crossed,  with  five  compan 
ions,  in  an  Indian  canoe.  The  first  place  where  he  landed 
he  called  "Providence;"  thus  acknowledging  his  grati 
tude  to  God.  There  were  then  no  white  settlers  in  that 
region ;  and  Canonicus,  chief  of  the  Narragansetts, 
gave  Roger  Williams  a  large  tract  of  country.  But  he 
kept  nothing  for  himself :  "  he  gave  away  his  lands  and 
other  estate  to  them  that  he  thought  most  in  want, 
until  he  gave  away  all."  "  I  desired  it  might  be  a 
shelter  for  persons  distressed  for  conscience,"  he  said. 
Many  such  persons  came  to  him,  and  settled  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  colony  he  founded.  Among  these 


70  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

were  Anne  Hutchinson,  a  famous  woman-preacher  of 
those  days,  whom  the  Massachusetts  magistrates  had 
exiled ;  and  Samuel  Gorton,  another  independent  re 
ligious  teacher.  Another  was  William  Coddington,  who 
bought  the  island  of  Rhode  Island,  then  called  Aquid- 
neck,  from  the  Indians.  Indeed,  so  many  people  of 
various  opinions  went  there,  that  it  used  to  be  said, 
that  any  man  who  had  lost  his  religion  would  be  sure 
to  find  it  again  at  some  village  in  Rhode  Island.  •^Z***f* 
The  new  colony  finally  obtained  a  charter  under  the 
name  of  "Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations;" 
the  first  part  of  the  name  being  given  from  a  sup 
posed  resemblance  of  that  island  to  the  Island  of 
Rhodes.  The  laws  of  the  coleny  were  based  on  the 
plan  of  perfect  religious  toleration.  Roger  Williams 
maintained  that  "  a  permission  of  the  most  Paganish, 
Jewish,  Turkish,  or  anti-Christian  consciences,"  should 
be  granted  "  to  all  men  of  all  nations  and  countries," 
and  that  "  Papists,  Protestants,  Jews,  or  Turks  "  should 
be  protected  in  their  worship  ;  and  the  General  Assem 
bly  in  1647  passed  a  law  to  the  same  purpose.  That 
was  an  amount  of  liberty  not  then  equalled  under  any 
Christian  government,  not  even  in  the  Maryland  colony, 
which  was  the  most  liberal  in  America.  And,  in 
general,  the  inhabitants  of  Rhode  Island  were  so 
fearful  of  establishing  any  tyranny,  that,  when  Roger 
Williams  had  refused  the  office  of  governor,  the  colony 
went  on  without  one  for  forty  years.  After  a  time  the 
character  and  habits  of  the  people  became  more  like 
those  of  the  other  New  England  colonies ;  but  the 
others  always  felt  some  jealousy  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
it  was  not  admitted  into  the  alliances  made  by  the 


THE  OTHER  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES.       71 

rest.  Yet  Rhode  Island  took  an  active  part  in  the 
wars  of  the  colonies  against  the  French,  and  was 
ready  to  join  with  the  others  in  raising  troops  when 
the  time  of  the  American  Revolution  came.  -*'•— 

The  coast  of  Connecticut  was  first  explored  by  one 
of  the  early  Dutch  navigators,  Adrian  Block,  who  was 
''the  first  European  to  sail  through  Hurlgate.  This  was 
in  1614;  and  the  island  called  Block  Island  still  bears 
the  name  of  the  bold  sailor.  Other  Dutch  navigators 
afterwards  went  up  the  Connecticut  River,  and  claimed 
its  banks,  and  the  whole  shore  of  Long  Island  Sound, 
as  far  as  Cape  Cod.  But  the  river  was  also  claimed  by 
an  English  company ;  and  an  exploring  party  from  Plym 
outh  chose  a  site  for  a  trading-house  on  the  bank,  in 
answer  to  an  invitation  from  an  Indian  chief  named 
Seguin.  Then  the  Dutch  bought  of  another  chief,  Sas- 
sacus,  the  land  where  Hartford  now  stands,  and  built 
there  a  trading-house  and  fort,  called  the  "House  of 
Good  Hope."  They  forbade  any  English  from  ascend 
ing  the  river,  and  threatened  to  fire  on  the  party  from 
Plymouth  when  they  came  in  sight ;  but  the  Plymouth 
men  sailed  on  up  the  stream,  and  built  their  trading- 
house  at  Windsor.  This  was  in  1 633 ;  and  for  many  years 
after  there  was  a  rivalry  between  the  Dutch  and  the 
English  in  settling  the  Connecticut  valley.  The  Dutch 
of  New  Amsterdam  were  nearer  to  the  spot ;  but  the 
English  were  more  numerous  and  more  enterprising ; 
and  they  soon  began  to  come  by  land  as  well  as  by  water. 
Some  whole  churches  formed  colonies,  and  came  through 
the  unbroken  forest  to  Hartford  and  Windsor  and  Weth- 
ersfield.  It  was  an  untried  way  for  white  men  ;  but  the 


72  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Indians  had  told  them  of  the  beautiful  river,  and  had 
said  that  its  banks  were  more  fertile  than  the  rugged 
soil  of  the  Massachusetts  shore.  The  first  party  of  set 
tlers,  in  1635,  suffered  greatly  in  their  first  winter;  and 
some  of  them  waded  back  through  the  snows  before 
spring.  But  in  the  spring  a  much  larger  party  went 
westward,  under  guidance  of  a  celebrated  minister, 
Thomas  Hooker.  They  drove  their  cattle  before  them  ; 
they  had  no  guide  but  their  compass  ;  they  hardly  trav 
elled  ten  miles  a  day  through  the  forests ;  and  Mrs. 
Hooker,  who  was  an  invalid,  was  borne  on  a  litter: 
but  they,  too,  reached  the  river  at  last.  In  1639  the 
first  constitution  for  the  Connecticut  Colony  was  made, 
permitting  all  men  to  vote  who  had  taken  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  commonwealth.  The  name  of  the 
colony  was  taken  from  that  of  the  river ;  and  it  is  said 
to  mean  "  Long  River."  While  this  colony  was  being 
established,  another  large  party  came  from  England,  in 
1638,  and  founded  a  second  settlement  on  the  river,  at 
what  they  called  New  Haven.  This  colony  had  for  a 
long  time  no  laws  but  the  Bible,  and  allowed  none  but 
church-members  to  vote.  In  this  respect  it  was  like 
the  Massachusetts  Colony  in  early  times  \  but  religious 
controversies  were  milder  in  the  Connecticut  settle 
ments,  and  there  was  very  little  persecution  for  opin 
ion's  sake. 

The  troubles  with  the  Dutch  of  New  Netherlands 
continued  until  1664,  when  the  whole  province  of  New 
Netherlands  itself  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Eng 
lish,  and  its  name  was  changed  to  New  York.  After 
that  time,  there  was  no  more  trouble  from  Dutch  neigh 
bors.  The  New  Haven  Colony  was,  during  the  next 


THE   OTHER    NEW    ENGLAND    COLONIES.  73 

year,  united  with  the  Connecticut  Colony ;  and  they 
both  went  on  prospering,  being  only  visited  by  such 
troubles  as  attacked  all  the  New  England  colonies 
together.  These  troubles  must  be  told  in  a  separate 
chapter.  We  shall  there  see  how  the  people  of  New 
England  lived,  down  to  the  time  of  the  American  Rev 
olution,  which  combined  all  the  scattered  colonies  into 
one  nation. 


CHAPTER  X. 

COLONIAL   DAYS   IN    NEW    ENGLAND. 

WE  must  remember,  that  although  the  New  Eng 
land  colonies  had  jealousies  £hd  differences, 
yet  they  were  in  many  respects  alike.  T^y  were  com 
posed  almost  wholly  of  Englishmen  and  Protestants ; 
and  most  of  their  pioneers  had  come  from  motives  of 
conscience,  as  well  as  for  their  worldly  advantage. 
Their  leaders  were  men  of  strict  morality,  and  they 
aimed  to  have  no  others  among  them.  In  the  very 
first  year  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  Governor 
Endicott  broke  up  a  settlement  at  "  Merry  Mount," 
composed  of  people  who  led  gayer  and  idler  lives  than 
he  approved ;  and  this  same  John  Endicott  cut  the 
red  cross  out  of  the  English  flag,  because  he  thought  it 
meant  superstition.  The  other  New  England  colonies 
were  not  so  stern  in  their  discipline  as  was  Massachu 
setts ;  but  the  habits  of  that  age  would  seem  very 
peculiar  to  us,  and  they  had  their  influence  even  in 
the  more  liberal  colonies,  such  as  Rhode  Island. 

If  we  could  carry  ourselves  back  to  those  days,  and 
were  to  approach  a  New  England  village  about  nine 
o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  we  should  hear  some  one 
beating  a  drum,  or  sounding  a  horn,  or  blowing  a 
conch-shell,  or  possibly  ringing  a  bell,  to  call  people 
74 


COLONIAL   DAYS    IN    NEW   ENGLAND. 


75 


to  worship.  As  we  came  nearer  still,  we  should  see 
a  flag  waving  from  a  little  log-built  church,  or  "  meet 
ing-house."  Entering  the  village,  we  should  see  a 
strong  fence  of  stakes  around  this  meeting-house,  and 
a  sentinel  in  armor  standing  near  it ;  and  we  should  see 
some  of  the  men,  as  they  went  in,  leaving  their  muskets 
under  his  care.  We  should,  perhaps,  see  a  cannon  or 
two  planted  near  the  meeting-house  ;  and  we  should 
also  see  some  strange 
wooden  frames  not  far 
off,  these  being  the  stocks 
and  the  pillory,  put  there 
to  punish  offenders. 
Looking  at  this  church 
itself,  we  should  see  that 
it  had  very  few  glass  win 
dows,  and  that  these  had 
very  small  and  thick 
panes,  diamond -shaped, 
and  set  in  leaden  frames. 
We  should  observe  that 
the  other  windows  had 
oiled  paper,  instead  of 


EARLY  NEW  ENGLAND  CHURCH. 


glass ;  and  we  should  see 

between  the  windows  the  heads  of  wolves  that  had  been 

killed  and  displayed  there  during  the  past  year. 

If  we  were  to  look  inside  the  little  church,  we  should 
not  see  families  sitting  together,  as  now  ;  but  they  would 
be  distributed  according  to  age,  or  sex,  or  rank.  In 
those  days  the  old  men  sat  together  in  one  place  in 
church,  the  young  men  in  another,  the  young  women  in 
another.  The  boys  all  sat  on  the  pulpit-stairs  and  gal- 


76  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

lery -stairs,  guarded  by  constables.  Each  of  these  con 
stables  had  a  wand,  with  a  hare's  foot  on  one  end,  and 
a  hare's  tail  on  the  other.  These  were  to  keep  people 
awake.  If  any  woman  went  to  sleep,  the  constable 
touched  her  on  the  forehead  with  the  hare's  tail ;  but, 
if  a  small  boy  nodded,  he  was  rapped  with  the  other 
end,  not  quite  so  gently.  No  doubt  the  wand  was  often 
used ;  for  the  services  were  sometimes  three  or  four 
hours  long,  the  sexton  turning  the  hour-glass  before 
the  minister  at  the  end  of  every  hour.  The  only 
music  consisted  of  singing  by  the  congregation,  from 
a  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms,  called  "  The  Bay 
Psalm  Book."  The  whole  number  of  tunes  known  to 
the  people  did  not  exceed  ten ;  and  few  congregations 
could  go  beyond  five.  This  was  the  Puritan  form  of 
religious  service.  And  people  were  not  allowed  to 
stay  at  home  from  it ;  for  men  called  tithing-men  were 
sent  about  the  town  to  look  for  those  who  were  absent. 
Men  were  fined  for  every  unnecessary  absence ;  and,  if 
they  staid  away  a  month  together,  they  might  be  put  in 
the  stocks,  or  into  a  wooden  cage. 

Looking  round  at  the  houses  of  the  Puritan  village, 
we  should  see  that  the  older  ones  were  made  of  earth 
or  logs,  one  story  high,  with  very  steep  roofs,  covered 
with  thatch.  Entering  any  of  these,  we  should  find 
the  fireplaces  made  of  rough  stones,  and  the  chimneys 
either  of  boards,  or  of  short  sticks  crossing  each  other, 
and  smeared  with  clay.  Here  and  there  we  should  see 
newer  and  better  houses,  made  of  wood  and  brick,  two 
stories  high  in  front,  and  one  story  behind ;  or  houses 
of  stone,  like  this  of  which  a  picture  is  given,  and 
Ivhich  represents  the  house  of  Rev.  Mr.  Whitfield  at 


COLONIAL  DAYS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 


77 


MR.  WHITFIELD'S  HOUSE. 


Guilford,  Conn.,  built  in  1639,  and  still  standing,  proba 
bly  the  oldest  house 
in  the  United  States 
north  of  Florida. 
We  should  observe 
that  the  windows 
were  very  small,  and 
opened  on  hinges ; 
and  we  should  find 
the  fireplaces  of  these 
houses  large  enough  for  burning  logs  four  feet  long, 
and  for  the  children  to  sit  in  the  corners  to  look  up  at 
the  sky.  We  should  find  the  houses  facing  exactly 
south,  so  that  the  sun  at  noon  might  "  shine  square  " 

into  them,  and  the  family 
might  know  when  to  have 
dinner. 

If  we  could  see  the  people 
occupying  these  houses,  we 
should  find  the  men  wearing 
jerkins,  small-clothes,  ruffs 
around  their  necks,  and, 
when  in  the  open  air,  short 
cloaks  and  steeple-crowned 
hats,  under  which  the  elders 
wore  velvet  caps.  We  should 
find  the  young  men,  on  pub 
lic  occasions,  wearing  showy 
belts,  gold  and  silver  but 
tons,  and  great  boots  rolled 
over  at  the  top.  We  should 
find  the  young  women  wearing  plain  and  homespun 


A    PURITAN. 


78  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

clothing  when  about  their  work,  but  appearing  on  Sun 
days  in  silk  hoods,  lace  neckerchiefs,  slashed  sleeves 
and  embroidered  caps.  But  the  law  required  that  they 
should  dress  according  to  their  means ;  and,  if  they  wore 
such  things,  they  must  prove  that  they  were  rich  enough 
to  afford  it.  This  was  the  practice  in  England  in  those 
days,  and  the  Puritans  brought  such  laws  with  them. 
Thus  it  appears  in  the  records,  that  one  Alice  Flynt 
was  accused  of  wearing  a  silk  hood ;  but,  when  she 
proved  before  court  that  she  was  worth  two  hundred 
pounds  in  money,  the  complaint  was  dropped.  Jonas 
Fairbanks,  about  the  same  time,  was  prosecuted  for 
wearing  "  great  boots  ; "  but  the  evidence  was  not  suffi 
cient  to  convict  him,  and  he  was  happily  acquitted. 

If  we  were  to  remain  in  this  Puritan  village  during 
the  week,  we  might  see,  perhaps,  a  monthly  muster  of 
the  soldiers ;  that  is,  of  all  men  over  the  age  of  six 
teen.  We  should  perhaps  see  the  officers  with  swords 
like  that  sword  of  Capt.  Miles  Standish,  which  is  still 
preserved,  bearing  an  unknown  Oriental  inscription, 
in  the  Antiquarian  Hall  at  Plymouth.  We  should  see 
some  of  the  soldiers  armed  with  pikes  ten  feet  long, 
and  others  carrying  muskets  called  "matchlocks,"  from 
being  fired  by  a  slow-match  instead  of  a  percussion- 
cap,  as  now.  We  should  observe  that  each  soldier  had 
also  a  "  rest,"  or  iron  fork,  to  be  stuck  in  the  ground 
for  the  support  of  his  heavy  weapon  ;  and  we  should 
notice  that  he  had  girt  round  him  a  belt,  or  "  bando 
lier,"  holding  a  sword  and  a  dozen  tin  cartridge-boxes. 
He  would  probably  wear,  also,  a  steel  helmet  and  an 
iron  breastplate  ;  so  that  he  would  need  to  be  a  strong 
man  to  make  a  long  march  thus  laden.  Or  perhaps  he 


COLONIAL   DAYS    IN   NEW   ENGLAND.  79 

would  only  wear  a  coat  thickly  quilted  with  cotton 
wool,  which  would  turn  the  Indian  arrows,  and  would 
be  much  lighter  to  wear.  Such  would  be  the  soldiers. 
Or,  if  a  town-meeting  were  being  held,  we  should  find 
those  same  men,  dressed  in  civil  costume,  gravely  and 
patiently  discussing  the  affairs  of  the  town,  or  the 
interests  of  the  church ;  most  of  the  voters  everywhere 
being  church-members  also.  Or,  if  a  vote  were  to  be 
taken,  we  should  see  them  doing  it  by  putting  in  corn 
or  beans ;  each  kernel  of  corn  counting  in  the  affirma 
tive,  and  every  bean  in  the  negative. 

The  laws  of  the  Puritans  were,  in  many  ways,  more 
severe  than  was  wise,  as  we  should  now  think.  Those 
who  had  done  wrong  were  often  publicly  whipped,  or 
placed  in  stocks  or  the  pillory;  these  being  wooden 
frames  that  held  people  by  the  feet  or  neck,  so  that 
they  could  not  get  away.  Or  sometimes  an  offender 
had  to  stand  on  a  stool  in  the  church,  during  public 
worship,  bearing  the  name  of  his  crime  embroidered 
on  his  clothes,  or  written  on  a  paper  pinned  to  his 
breast.  A  woman  who  scolded  her  family  might  be 
silenced  by  a  cleft  stick  applied  to  her  tongue,  or  by 
being  ducked  in  running  water.  Such  punishments 
are  not  now  applied  in  civilized  communities ;  but  we 
must  remember  that  they  were  common  in  that  age,  and 
that  the  aim  of  such  laws  was  to  produce  a  sober  and 
virtuous  people,  fearing,  above  all  things,  to  do  wrong. 

"Let  it  never  be  forgotten,"  said  one  of  the  early 
Puritan  preachers,  "  that  our  New  England  was  origi 
nally  a  plantation  of  religion,  and  not  a  plantation  of 
trade.  And  if  there  be  a  man  among  you  who  counts 
religion  as  twelve^  and  the  world  as  thirteen^  let  such  a 


8o  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

one  remember  that  he  hath  neither  the  spirit  of  a  true 
New  England  man,  nor  yet  of  a  sincere  Christian." 

Unhappily,  the  people  honestly  believed  at  that  time 
that  it  was  their  duty  to  control  the  religious  opinions 
of  those  about  them,  as  well  as  their  moral  conduct ; 
and  those  who  differed  from  the  majority  in  their  opin 
ions  often  suffered  very  much.  One  reason  was,  that 
the  English  Government  always  complained  that  the 
Puritans  were  a  fanatical  and  unreasonable  kind  of 
people,  and  so  the  Puritans  naturally  did  not  wish  to 
be  confounded  with  anybody  still  more  fanatical,  or 
to  be  responsible  for  any  peculiarities  but  their  own. 
Unfortunately,  the  way  they  took  to  remedy  the  evil 
was  much  worse  than  the  evil  itself. 

Now,  the  Quakers,  or  Society  of  Friends,  in  those 
days,  though  in  some  respects  wiser  and  better  than 
those  who  persecuted  them,  were  yet  very  hard  for  the 
Puritans  to  deal  with.  The  Quakers  were  honestly 
opposed  to  many  things  that  the  Puritans  thought 
necessary  to  good  government.  They  would  not  pay 
taxes,  or  acknowledge  the  government,  or  fight  in 
war :  therefore  the  Puritans  wished  them  to  go  away, 
and  to  found  a  settlement  for  themselves  in  the  wil 
derness,  leaving  the  Puritan  settlements  in  peace.  But 
this  the  Quakers  did  not  choose  to  do.  They  thought 
they  had  as  much  right  in  New  England  as  anybody 
else  ;  and  they,  moreover,  had  among  them  some  foolish 
persons,  who  did  very  mistaken  things,  not  at  all  ap 
proved  by  the  main  body  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 
Some  of  these  excited  people  would  run  naked  through 
the  streets,  meaning  this  as  a  protest  against  the  vani 
ties  of  dress ;  sometimes  they  would  come  into  the 


COLONIAL    DAYS    IN    NEW    ENGLAND.  8l 

Sunday  meetings,  dressed  in  sackcloth,  and  with  ashes 
on  their  heads.  Because  of  these  half-crazy  persons, 
the  Puritans  persecuted  even  the  good  and  sober 
among  the  Quakers.  These  poor  people  were  some- 
times  branded  with  hot  irons  (H.  for  "heretic,"  and 
R.  for  "  rogue  "  )  :  they  were  whipped  publicly  through 
the  streets,  and  four  of  them  were  hanged  on  Boston 
Common.  All  this  was  very  wrong  and  cruel  ;  but  we 
must  remember  that  such  severity  was  the  practice  of 
those  days  in  most  countries  ;  and  that  men  had  not 
then  learned  to  tolerate  freedom  of  opinion  in  one 
another.  Indeed,  they  have  not  entirely  learned  it 
even  now. 

Then  another  great  source  of  anxiety  among  the 
Puritans  was  what  was  called  the  witchcraft  excitement. 
All  over  Europe,  two  centuries  ago,  it  was  firmly 
believed  that  certain  persons  were  witches,  and  had 
power  to  bewitch  and  injure  other  people  by  magic 
arts.  Perhaps  some  old  woman,  living  by  herself, 
would  be  accused  of  exerting  this  magic  power  on  men 
or  animals,  and  of  causing  disease  or  death.  Then 
the  poor  woman  would  be  accused  before  a  magistrate, 
and  would  be  examined,  and  perhaps  tortured  to 
make  her  confess  ;  then  she  would  become  so  fright 
ened,  or  excited,  as  to  say  that  she  was  really  a  witch, 
and  perhaps  to  accuse  others :  and  so  it  spread  from 
one  to  another.  In  Scotland,  about  that  time,  four 
thousand  persons  suffered  death,  on  charge  of  witch 
craft,  in  ten  years'  time ;  and  it  is  not  strange  that 
twenty  were  executed  in  Massachusetts.  Sometimes 
the  very  persons  who  were  accused  would  do  and  say 
such  strange  things,  that  it  was  hard  to  know  what 


82  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

course  to  take  with  them.  A  young  girl,  for  instance, 
would  jump  up  in  church,  and  shout  out,  "  Parson,  your 
text  is  too  long ! "  or,  "  There's  a  great  yellow  bird 
sitting  on  the  parson's  hat  in  the  pulpit ; "  and,  when 
people  did  such  strange  things,  the  magistrates  them 
selves  became  excited.  But,  the  more  severely  such 
persons  were  treated,  the  more  their  number  increased  ; 
so  that  the  persecution  of  witches  made  more  witch 
craft  ;  and  some  of  the  Puritans  were  afterwards  very 
much  ashamed  of  what  they  had  done.  One  brave 
old  judge,  Samuel  Sewall,  confessed,  in  his  later  years, 
that  he  had  done  wrong  in  yielding  to  the  public 
excitement  about  witches ;  and  he  used  to  keep  a 
solemn  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  every  year,  to  atone 
for  the  sin  he  had  committed. 

Then  the  Puritan  colonies  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
about  their  charters.  The  charters  were  the  parchments 
given  by  the  British  Government,  securing  to  the  colo 
nists  the  right  to  make  their  own  laws,  and  to  appoint 
their  own  magistrates.  The  colonists  knew,  that,  with 
out  these  charters,  they  would  be  liable  to  a  great  deal 
of  injustice  ;  and  that  governors  and  magistrates  might 
at  any  time  be  sent  out  from  England  to  govern  them 
without  their  consent.  These  magistrates  might  de 
prive  them  of  their  religious  freedom,  and  destroy  their 
whole  prosperity.  Besides,  it  was  a  time  of  civil  war  in 
England,  between  Charles  I.  and  the  parliament ;  and 
the  colonists  did  not  wish  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with 
the  contest.  If  they  sided  with  either  party,  the  other 
party  would  be  very  likely  to  oppress  them  whenever  it 
came  into  power  :  so  they  tried  to  keep  out  of  that 
war  altogether,  and  to  hold  to  their  charters.  Several 


COLONIAL   DAYS    IN    NEW    ENGLAND.  83 

times  the  English  Government  attempted  to  take  away 
the  charters ;  and  at  last,  in  1686,  Sir  Edmund  Andros 
was  sent  out  for  this  very  purpose,  and  was  authorized 
to  act  as  royal  governor  for  all  New  England.  He 
came  with  great  show  and  display,  glittering  in  scarlet 
and  lace ;  and  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  sub 
mitted  to  his  authority.  Connecticut  appeared  to  do 
the  same ;  but  a  brave  man,  William  Wadsworth,  took 
the  charter,  and  hid  it  in  a  hollow  tree.  Sir  Edmund 
Andros  was  very  angry,  and  took  the  book  of  records 
of  the  Connecticut  Colony,  and  wrote  under  it  "  Finis," 
which  means  "the  end."  But  in  1688  there  was  a  rev 
olution  in  England ;  and  the  people  of  New  England 
soon  rebelled  against  the  new  governor.  The  men  of 
Boston  put  Sir  Edmund  Andros  in  prison ;  the  charter 
of  Connecticut  was  brought  out  from  its  hiding-place ; 
and  the  word  "  Finis '  disappeared  from  the  colonial 
records. 

There  had  been,  ever  since  1643,  a  league  of  part  of 
the  New  England  Colonies  to  aid  each  other  against  the 
Indians,  and  for  other  purposes.  It  included  the  two 
Massachusetts  Colonies  and  the  two  Connecticut  Colo 
nies  ;  but  they  would  not  admit  Rhode  Island.  Maine 
and  New  Hampshire  were  not  yet  independent  colo 
nies  ;  and  Vermont  was  not  settled  at  all.  This  league 
lasted  more  than  forty  years,  though  its  importance  was 
much  diminished  during  the  latter  part  of  that  time. 
But  when  Sir  Edmund  Andros  came  to  Boston  as  royal 
governor,  the  league  was  dissolved ;  and  even  after  the 
people  had  rebelled,  and  had  banished  him,  three  years 
later,  it  was  not  restored.  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire  were  separated  into  distinct  colonies,  and 


84  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

had  royal  governors  from  England,  very  much  against 
their  will ;  while  Connecticut  had  kept  its  charter 
through  all  changes,  thanks  to  William  Wadsworth  and 
the  oak-tree  ;  and  Rhode  Island  began  again  to  govern 
itself  under  its  old  charter,  and  was  not  molested.  But 
all  these  contests  about  charters  left  a  very  sore  feeling 
behind,  and  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  that  separa 
tion  from  the  mother-country  which  was  destined  to 
take  place. 

But,  while  this  great  event  was  drawing  near,  the 
people  of  the  New  England  Colonies  all  thought  that 
they  were  true  and  loyal  Englishmen  ;  and  they  grew  in 
numbers  and  in  strength.  At  first  they  were  all  farm 
ers  or  hunters  or  fishermen  ;  but  by  degrees  they  intro 
duced  cotton  and  woollen  manufactures,  made  glass 
and  gunpowder,  got  lumber  and  tar  from  the  woods, 
and  exported  fish  cured  with  salt  of  their  own  making. 
The  first  vessel  they  built  was  called  "  The  Blessing  of 
the  Bay  ;  "  and  after  a  while  there  were  many  such  bless 
ings.  There  was  very  little  coin  among  them  to  use  for 
business  purposes,  because  they  had  often  to  send  it  to 
England  for  buying  supplies,  and  it  did  not  return.  So 
they  had  to  trade  by  barter ;  and  afterwards  they  used 
wampum  for  money,  and  beaver-skins  and  Indian  corn 
and  bullets;  and  finally,  in  1652,  the  Massachusetts 
legislature  set  up  a  mint,  and  coined  twelvepenny,  six 
penny,  and  threepenny  pieces  of  silver.  These  bore  on 
one  side  the  inscription,  "  Massachusetts,"  always  spelt 
"  Masathusets,"  with  a  tree  in  the  centre,  and  "N.  E.," 
or  "  New  England,"  with  the  date,  on  the  other.  These 
are  commonly  known  as  "pine-tree"  shillings,  six 
pences,  and  threepences. 


COLONIAL    DAYS    IN    NEW    ENGLAND.  85 

While  the  colonists  were  poor,  there  was  necessarily 
much  simplicity  of  living  among  them.  People  of  all 
stations  made  their  morning  and  evening  meal  of 
boiled  corn-meal  and  milk,  or  of  pork  and  beans,  or 
pork  and  peas.  Tea  and  coffee  were  not  yet  intro 
duced ;  but  home-made  beer  and  cider  were  largely 
employed.  Bread  was  commonly  made  of  "  rye  and 


EARLY    NEW   ENGLAND   COINS. 


Indian,"  rather  than  of  flour.  There  were  few  amuse 
ments  ;  dancing  and  the  theatre  were  prohibited  ;  musi 
cal  instruments  were  rare ;  and  no  one  was  allowed 
even  to  possess  cards  or  dice.  In  their  desire  to  pro 
mote  virtue,  the  Puritans,  no  doubt,  were  too  austere  in 
their  way  of  living ;  yet  the  standard  of  morality  among 
them  was  certainly  very  high. 


86 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


With  this  simplicity  of  living  there  was  a  great  dea\ 
of  equality  in  the  early  days.  Only  a  few  people  of 
the  highest  social  position,  such  as  the  clergy  and  the 
magistrates,  were  called  by  the  titles  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. ; 
the  common  designation  being  Goodman  and  Goodwife. 
Yet  there  was  much  deference  paid  to  people  of  higher 
education  or  authority,  especially  to  the  clergy.  The 
standard  of  education  was  high  in  the  early  colonies ; 
many  of  the  very  first  emigrants  being  men  educated 
at  the  English  universities.  They  introduced  schools 
without  delay,  and  then  colleges.  Harvard  College 


HARVARD   COLLEGE  IN   1720. 

is  almost  as  old  as  the  colonies  themselves,  having 
been  founded  in  1636  ;  and  Yale  College  followed  it  in 
1700.  The  first  printing-press  in  the  New  England  col 
onies  was  established  at  Cambridge  in  1639;  and  the 
first  newspaper  in  any  of  the  colonies  appeared  in  1704, 
and  was  called  "  The  Boston  Newsletter."  Booksellers 
prospered  very  early  in  Boston  •  and  many  books  were 
printed  there,  most  of  these  being  sermons  or  theologi 
cal  pamphlets. 

As  wealth  increased  in  New  England,  social  distinc 
tions  became  greater ;  and  the  royal  governors,  espe 
cially,  brought  with  them  much  show  and  display.  In 


COLONIAL    DAYS    IN    NEW    ENGLAND.  87 

Boston  and  Cambridge,  in  Portsmouth,  N.H.,  and  in 
some  parts  of  Rhode  Island,  there  grew  up  much  ele 
gance  of  living  and  magnificent  hospitality;  and  there 
still  remain  in  these  places  old  houses  which  show  the 
splendor  that  prevailed  in  colonial  days.  Slavery  existed 
in  all  the  early  colonies,  but  in  a  very  mild  form ;  slave- 
labor  being  rarely  employed  in  the  fields,  but  mainly 
in  private  houses.  At  its  first  introduction  it  had  been 
earnestly  opposed  ;  and  when,  in  1646,  a  cargo  of  Afri 
cans  came  from  the  Guinea  coast  to  Boston,  the  legis 
lature  ordered  them  to  be  sent  back  to  their  native 
country,  with  a  letter  of  indignation  ;  and  they  were  so 
scrupulous  as  to  send  and  bring  back  one  who  had  been 
already  taken  to  Maine.  In  the  Connecticut  Colony,  in 
1650,  and  in  New  Haven  soon  after,  man-stealing  was 
made  a  capital  offence.  In  Rhode  Island,  also,  the  first 
act  of  the  General  Assembly  in  regard  to  slavery,  in 
1652,  ordered  that  no  "blacke  mankind  or  white" 
should  be  held  in  slavery  for  more  than  ten  years,  or 
after  the  age  of  twenty-four.  But  these  scruples  were 
gradually  disregarded,  and  slavery  was  established. 
Many  influential  men  still  protested  against  it,  espe 
cially  Chief  Justice  Samuel  Sewall,  who  published,  in 
1700,  a  tract  on  the  subject,  called  "The  Selling  of 
Joseph."  An  answer  to  this  tract  was  soon  published  ; 
and  Judge  Sewall  says  in  his  letters  that  he  met  with 
"  frowns  and  hard  words  "  for  it,  but  that  he  was  sus 
tained  by  the  influence  of  some  of  the  leading  clergy 
men,  such  as  Rev.  John  Higginson  of  Salem.  It  was 
not  till  after  the  Revolution,  however,  that  slavery  dis 
appeared  from  the  New  England  Colonies. 


CHAPTER  XL 

OLD    DUTCH    TIMES    IN    NEW    YORK    AND    NEW   JERSEY. 

THERE  was  once  an  English  sailor,  named  Henry 
Hudson,  who  made  some  very  daring  voyages. 
The  European  nations  were  trying  hard  to  discover  a 
shorter  passage  to  India,  either  by  sailing  to  the  north 
of  Europe,  or  by  finding  some  opening  through  the  new 
continent  of  America.  Henry  Hudson  had  made  two 
voyages  for  this  purpose,  in  the  employ  of  English 
companies.  Twice  he  had  sailed  among  the  icebergs, 
and  through  the  terrible  cold,  as  far  as  Spitzbergen ; 
and  twice  he  had  turned  back,  because  he  could  get  no 
farther.  But  he  was  still  as  resolute  and  adventurous 
as  ever,  always  ready  for  something  new,  —  ready  to 
brave  the  arctic  cold  or  the  tropic  heat,  if  he  could  only 
find  that  passage  to  India  which  so  many  had  sought 
in  vain.  At  last,  on  the  4th  of  April,  1609,  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company  sent  him  out  once  more  to  make 
discoveries.  The  Dutch  at  that  time  were  the  great 
commercial  nation  of  the  world  ;  and  Amsterdam  was 
the  centre  of  the  commerce  of  Europe.  There  was  not 
a  forest  of  ship-timber  in  Holland  ;  but  it  owned  more 
ships  than  all  Europe  beside. 

Henry    Hudson's    vessel    was    named    the    "  Half- 
Moon."     He  had  a  crew  of  twenty  Englishmen  and 


OLD   DUTCH   TIMES    IN    NEW    YORK.  89 

Dutchmen  ;  and  his  own  son  was  among  them.  First 
he  sailed  north,  as  he  had  done  before,  trying  to  reach 
Spitzbergen  and  Nova  Zembla  ;  but  he  found  icebergs 
everywhere,  and  his  men  almost  mutinied  because  of 
the  cold.  Then  he  resolved  to  sail  farther  westward. 
He  passed  near  Greenland,  then  southward  to  New 
foundland,  then  to  Cape  Cod,  then  as  far  south  as  Vir 
ginia  ;  then  he  turned  northward  again,  observing  the 
shore  more  closely,  and  found  himself  at  the  mouth  of 
what  seemed  to  him  a  broad  strait  or  river.  On  the 
3d  of  September,  1609,  he  anchored  near  what  is  now 
Sandy  Hook.  There  the  Indians  came  out  to  trade 
with  him ;  and  after  a  few  days  he  set  sail  again,  fol 
lowing  the  stream  farther  and  farther,  thinking  that  he 
had  found  the  passage  to  India  at  last. 

It  must  have  been  an  exciting  thing  to  sail  with 
Henry  Hudson  up  that  noble  river,  where  no  white 
man  had  ever  sailed  before.  He  said  in  his  narrative 
that  the  lands  on  both  sides  were  "  pleasant  with  grass 
and  flowers  and  goodly  trees."  "  It  is  as  beautiful  a 
land  as  one  can  tread  upon,"  he  declared,  "  and  abounds 
in  all  kinds  of  excellent  ship-timber."  The  Indians 
came  out  to  meet  him  in  canoes  "  made  of  single 
hollowed  trees  ;  "  but  he  would  not  let  them  come  on 
board  at  first,  because  one  of  them  had  killed  one  of 
his  sailors  with  an  arrow.  After  a  while  the  Dutch 
men  put  more  confidence  in  the  Indians,  and  let  them 
bring  grapes  and  pumpkins  and  furs  to  the  vessel. 
These  were  paid  for  with  beads,  knives,  and  hatchets. 
At  last  the  Indians  invited  the  bold  sea-captain  to  visit 
them  on  shore,  and  made  him  very  welcome  j  and  one 
of  their  chiefs  "  made  an  oration,  and  showed  him  all 


90  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

the  country  round  about."  Henry  Hudson  sailed  up 
as  far  as  where  the  town  of  Hudson  now  stands  ;  and 
there,  finding  it  too  shallow  for  his  vessel,  sent  a  boat 
farther  still,  —  as  far  as  what  is  now  Albany.  Then  he 
turned  back,  disappointed,  and  sailed  out  of  the 
"  great  river,"  or  "  Groot  Rivier  "  as  he  called  it,  and 
went  back  to  Holland. 

He  never  saw  that  beautiful  river  again.  The  Dutch 
East  India  Company  did  not  care  to  explore  it,  since 
it  did  not  lead  to  India  ;  and  Hudson,  on  his  next  voy 
age,  went  to  the  northern  seas,  hoping  to  find  the  pas 
sage  to  India  that  way.  He  entered  the  bay  that  now 
bears  his  name  ;  and  there  his  men  mutinied,  tied  him 
hand  and  foot,  put  him  on  board  a  boat,  with  his  son 
and  a  few  companions,  among  the  floating  ice,  and  set 
him  adrift.  Nothing  more  was  ever  heard  of  him. 
But  to  this  day  some  of  the  descendants  of  old  Dutch 
families  on  the  Hudson  River  tell  legends  of  the  dar 
ing  navigator  who  first  explored  it,  and  call  him  by  the 
Dutch  form  of  his  name  ;  and,  when  the  thunder  rolls 
away  over  the  Highlands,  they  say,  "  There  are  Hen- 
drick  Hudson  and  his  crew  playing  ninepins  among 
the  hills." 

In  a  few  years  trading-posts  began  to  be  established 
on  the  Hudson  River.  King  James  I.  of  England  had 
lately  chartered  two  companies  (as  has  already  been 
told)  for  the  purpose  of  colonizing  North  America. 
One  was  to  take  the  northern  part  of  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  the  other  the  southern  half ;  but  he  required  that 
their  nearest  settlements  should  be  a  hundred  miles 
apart,  so  that  there  should  be  no  quarrelling  between 
them.  It  did  not  occur  to  him,  that,  if  he  left  this  wide 


OLD    DUTCH    TIMES    IN    NEW   YORK.  91 

space  open,  some  other  nation  might  slip  in  between, 
and  found  colonies ;  so  that  there  might  be  quarrelling 
after  all.  Yet  this  was  just  what  happened.  After 
Henry  Hudson's  discoveries,  Holland  laid  claim  to  all 
the  land  along  the  "  great  river,"  and  called  the  whole 
territory  "  New  Netherlands."  Then,  the  next  year, 
there  came  a  bold  sailor,  named  Adrian  Block,  the  first 
European  who  ever  sailed  through  Hurlgate,  as  has  been 
already  described  in  a  previous  chapter.  He  loaded 
his  ship,  the  "Tiger,"  with  bear-skins,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson,  and  was  just  ready  to  sail,  when  the  ship 
caught  fire,  and  he  had  to  land  on  Manhattan  Island, 
where  New  York  City  now  stands.  There  his  men 
spent  the  winter  of  1614.  They  put  up  some  log-huts, 
and  a  fort  of  logs ;  and  before  spring  they  built  a  new 
vessel  of  sixteen  tons,  called  the  "  Onrust,"  or  "  Un 
rest,"  a  very  good  name  for  the  restless  navigators  of 
those  days.  This  was  the  second  vessel  built  on  this  con 
tinent  by  Europeans.  This  settlement,  which  was 
called  "  New  Amsterdam,"  was  the  foundation  of  what 
is  now  the  great  city  of  New  York  ;  and,  ten  years  after 
that,  the  whole  of  Manhattan  Island^vps  bought  from 
the  Indians  for  twenty-four  po^Jmoo  tttVrlmg.  Staten 
Island  received  its  name  from  Henry  Hudson,  in  honor 
of  the  Dutch  government,  "  Staaten  "  being  Dutch  for 
"states."  ^^ 

Settlers  at  first  came  slowly  to  New  Amsterdam  ; 
but  the  Dutch  established  several  trading-posts,  at  dif 
ferent  points,  where  they  might  buy  the  skins  of  bea 
vers,  bears,  and  otters,  which  the  Indians  had  trapped 
or  shot  At  first  only  poor  immigrants  came  ;  but,  after 
a  while,  certain  richer  and  more  influential  men  were 


92  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

sent  out,  with  special  privileges,  from  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company.  Each  of  these  had  authority  to  found 
a  colony  of  fifty  persons,  and  to  own  a  tract  of  land 
sixteen  miles  in  length,  bordering  on  any  stream  whose 
shores  were  not  yet  occupied,  and  running  back  as  far 
as  he  pleased  into  the  interior.  He  was  required  to  pay 
the  Indians  for  their  land,  and  to  establish  his  colony 
within  four  years.  He  could  exercise  authority  on  his 
own  "  manor,"  as  it  was  called,  without  regard  to  the 
colonial  government ;  but  he  could  not  engage  in  the 
woollen  or  cotton  manufacture,  because  that  was  a  mo 
nopoly  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  And  this 
company  also  agreed  to  supply 'the  manors  with  negro 
slaves,  whom  they  imported  from  Guinea.  These  great 
proprietors  were  called  "  Patroons." 

This  was  a  very  different  system  from  the  simple 
way  in  which  New  England  had  been  colonized,  where 
all  men  were  equal  before  the  law,  and  each  man  had 
a  voice  in  the  government.  The  Dutch  and  English 
settlers  did  not  agree  very  well,  especially  when  both 
nations  had  begun  to  explore  the  Connecticut  valley, 
and  both  wished  to  secure  possession  of  it.  The  Eng 
lishmen  thought  that  the  Dutchmen  had  no  business 
on  the  continent  at  all,  and  that  they  certainly  had  no 
claim  to  the  Connecticut  valley.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Dutchmen  said  that  they  had  ascended  the  Con 
necticut  River  first,  and  that  their  eastern  boundary 
was  the  cape  now  called  Cape  Cod.  Then  the  English 
men  charged  the  Dutchmen  with  exciting  the  Indians 
against  them  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Dutchmen 
said  that  the  English  settlers  were  apt  to  get  the  better 
of  them  in  making  bargains.  So  the  colony  of  New 


OLD    DUTCH    TIMES    IN    NEW   YORK.  93 

Netherlands  got  into  more  and  more  trouble  with  these 
active  and  sharp-witted  neighbors ;  and,  besides  that, 
the  Indians  were  very  troublesome ;  and  there  was  also 
a  standing  quarrel  with  the  Swedish  settlers  in  Dela 
ware  ;  so  that,  on  the  whole,  the  Dutchmen  had  not  so 
peaceful  a  time  as  they  might  have  desired. 

If  we  could  have  visited  a  Puritan  village  in  Massa 
chusetts  during  those  early  days,  and  then  could  have 
sailed  in  a  trading-vessel  to  New  Amsterdam,  we  should 
have  found  ourselves  in  quite  a  different  community  from 
that  we  had  left  behind.  The  very  look  of  the  houses 
and  streets  would  have  seemed  strange.  To  be  sure, 
the  very  first  settlers  in  both  colonies  had  to  build  their 
cabins  somewhat  alike, — with  walls  of  earth  or  logs, 
and  thatched  roofs,  and  chimneys  made  of  small  sticks 
of  wood  set  crosswise,  and  smeared  with  clay.  But, 
when  they  began  to  build  more  permanent  houses,  the 
difference  was  very  plain.  The  houses  in  New  Am 
sterdam  were  of  wood,  with  gable-ends  built  of  small 
black  and  yellow  bricks,  brought  over  from  Holland. 
Each  house  had  many  doors  and  windows  ;  and  the 
date  when  it  was  built  was  often  marked  in  iron  letters 
on  the  front.  The  roof  usually  bore  a  weathercock, 
and  sometimes  many.  The  houses  were  kept  very 
clean  inside  and  out,  —  as  clean  as  they  still  are  in  Hol 
land,  where  you  may  see  the  neat  housekeepers  scrub 
bing  their  doorsteps,  even  when  the  rain  is  pouring 
down  upon  their  heads.  The  furniture  in  these  houses 
was  plain  and  solid, — heavy  claw-footed  chairs,  pol 
ished  mahogany  tables,  and  cupboards  full  of  old  silver 
and  china.  Clocks  and  watches  were  rare  ;  and  the  time 
was  told  by  hour-glasses  and  sun-dials.  The  floors  were 


94  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

covered  with  white  sand,  on  which  many  neat  figures 
were  traced  with  a  broom.  There  were  great  open 
fireplaces,  set  round  with  figured  tiles  of  different  colors 
and  patterns,  commonly  representing  scriptural  sub 
jects,  —  the  ark,  the  prodigal  son,  and  the  children 
of  Israel  passing  the  Red  Sea.  In  the  evening  they 
burned  pine-knots  for  light,  or  home-made  tallow-can 
dles.  Every  house  had  two  or  more  spinning-wheels  ; 
and  a  huge  oaken  chest  held  the  household  linen,  all 


DUTCH    HOUSE. 


of  which   had   been   spun  upon  these  wheels  by  the 
women  of  the  family. 

Many  of  the  citizens  had  also  country-houses,  called 
"  boweries,"  with  porches,  or  "  stoeps,"  on  wrhich  the 
men  could  sit,  and  smoke  their  pipes ;  for  the  Dutch 
colonists  did  not  work  so  hard  as  those  in  New  Eng 
land  :  they  moved  about  more  slowly,  and  took  more 
leisure,  and  amused  themselves  more,  in  a  quiet  way. 
They  were  not  gay  and  light-hearted,  and  fond  of  dan- 


OLD   DUTCH   TIMES    IN   NEW   YORK.  95 

cing,  like  the  French  settlers  in  Canada ;  but  they  liked 
plenty  of  good  eating  and  drinking,  and  telling  stories, 
and  hearty  laughter,  and  playing  at  "  bowls  "  on  smooth 
grass-plots.  It  was  the  Dutch  who  introduced  various 
festivals  that  have  been  preserved  ever  since  in  Ameri 
ca ;  such  as  "Santa  Glaus,"  or  "St.  Nicholas,"  at 
Christmas-time,  colored  eggs  at  Easter,  and  the  prac 
tice  of  New-Year's  visiting.  They  kept  very  early 
hours,  dining  at  eleven  or  twelve,  and  often  going  to 
bed  at  sunset.  Yet  an  early  Swedish  traveller  describes 
them  as  sitting  on  the  "  stoeps  "  before  their  houses,  on 
moonlight  evenings,  and  greeting  the  passers-by,  who, 
in  return,  were  "  obliged  to  greet  anybody,"  he  says, 
"unless  they  would  shock  the  general  politeness  of  the 
town."  He  also  says  that  the  Dutch  people  in  Albany 
used  to  breakfast  on  tea,  without  milk,  sweetened  by 
holding  a  lump  of  sugar  in  the  mouth  ;  and  that  they 
dined  on  buttermilk  and  bread,  "  and,  if  to  that  they 
added  a  piece  of  sugar,  it  was  called  delicious."  But 
the  Dutch  housekeepers  of  New  Amsterdam  had  a 
great  reputation  for  cookery,  and  especially  for  a  great 
variety  off  nice  cakes  ;  such  as  doughnuts,  olykoeks,  and 
crullers.\  v. 

The  people  of  New  Netherlands  were  not  quite  so 
fond  of  church-going  as  those  who  had  settled  Plym 
outh  and  Salem  ;  but  they  were  steady  in  the  support  of 
public  worship,  and  had  a  great  respect  for  their  minis 
ters,  whom  they  called  "  dominies."  Sometimes  the 
dominies  had  to  receive  their  salaries  in  beaver-skins, 
or  wampum,  when  money  was  scarce.  The  dominie 
of  Albany  had  one  hundred  and  fifty  beaver-skins  a 
year.  As  for  the  dress  of  these  early  colonists,  the 


g6  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

women  used  to  wear  close  white  muslin  caps,  beneath 
which  their  hair  was  put  back  with  pomatum  ;  and  they 
wore  a  great  many  short  and  gayly-colored  petticoats, 
with  blue,  red,  or  green  stockings  of  their  own  knitting, 
and  high-heeled  shoes.  The  men  had  broad-skirted 
coats  of  linsey-woolsey,  with  large  buttons  of  brass  or 
silver :  they  wore  several  pairs  of  knee-breeches,  one 
over  another,  with  long  stockings,  and  with  great 
buckles  at  the  knees  and  on  the  shoes ;  and  their  hair 
was  worn  long,  and  put  up  in  an  eelskin  cue.  As  to 
their  employments,  the  people  of  New  Amsterdam  used 
to  trade  with  the  West  Indies  and  with  Europe,  export 
ing  timber  and  staves,  tar,  tobacco,  and  furs.  They 
used  to  build  their  own  ships  for  this  commerce,  giving 
them  high-sounding  names  ;  such  as  "  Queen  Esther," 
"  King  Solomon,"  and  "  The  Angel  Gabriel."-" 

One  of  the  Dutch  governors,  named  William  Kieft, 
used  to  be  called  "  William  the  Testy,"  from  his  hot 
temper  ;  and  he  kept  the  colony  in  a  great  deal  of 
trouble,  especially  through  his  cruelty  to  the  Indians, 
who  injured  the  settlers  very  much  in  return.  Gov. 
Kieft  was  very  much  displeased  at  the  colonies  sent 
from  Massachusetts  into  Connecticut ;  for  he  wished  to 
see  that  region  settled  from  New  Amsterdam  only.  So 
he  issued  a  proclamation  against  the  New-England 
men.  But  they,  instead  of  paying  the  least  attention 
to  it,  attacked  the  Dutch  fort  at  Hartford,  and  drove 
the  garrison  away.  They  also  took  possession  of  the 
eastern  part  of  Long  Island  ;  threw  down  the  coat-of- 
arms  of  Holland,  which  had  been  set  up  there  ;  and  put 
a  figure  of  a  "fool's  head  "  in  its  place.  This  failure, 
and  the  severity  of  Kieft's  government,  made  him  very 


OLD   DUTCH    TIMES    IN    NEW    YORK.  97 

unpopular ;  and  the  people  were  very  glad,  when,  in 
1647,  Gov.  Peter  Stuyvesant  was  appointed  in  his 
stead. 

Gov.  Stuyvesant  was  a  brave  and  honest  man,  but 
was  so  obstinate,  that  he  was  often  called  "  Hardkoppig 
Piet,"  or  "  Headstrong  Peter."  Sometimes  he  was 
called  "  Old  Silverleg,"  because  he  had  lost  a  leg  in 
war,  and  used  to  stump  about  on  a  wooden  leg  orna 
mented  with  strips  of  silver.  Under  his  government 
the  colony  was  well  defended,  for  a  time,  against  Indi 
ans,  Swedes,  and  Englishmen.  The  trouble  was,  that 
he  was  quite  despotic,  and  was  disposed  to  let  the  peo 
ple  have  as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  the  government. 
They  did  not  feel  that  they  had  as  much  freedom  as 
those  who  lived  in  the  other  colonies ;  and  they  were 
not  so  ready  to  fight  for  their  patroons  and  for  the  East 
India  Company,  as  were  the  English  colonists  for  their 
own  homesteads.  Then  the  English  settlers  increased 
very  fast  in  wealth  and  numbers ;  and  the  Dutchmen 
rather  envied  them,  even  while  quarrelling  with  them. 
At  last,  in  1664,  an  English  fleet,  with  many  recruits 
from  New  England  on  board,  appeared  before  New 
Amsterdam  ;  and  very  soon  the  town  was  surrendered 
to  the  English  by  the  general  wish  of  the  inhabitants, 
though  quite  against  the  will  of  "  Headstrong  Peter." 
He  tore  in  pieces  the  letter  from  the  English  commo 
dore  requiring  the  surrender  of  the  town  ;  but  the  peo 
ple  made  him  put  it  together  again,  and  accept  the 
terms  offered.  From  that  time  forth,  except  for  one 
short  interval  of. time,  the  English  held  possession  of 
New  Netherlands. 

The  name  of  the  colony  was  then  changed  to  New 
7 


98  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

York,  in  honor  of  the  king's  brother,  the  Duke  of 
York,  to  whom  King  Charles  II.  gave  the  province. 
That  part  of  New  Netherlands  south  of  the  Hudson 
was,  however,  made  into  a  separate  province,  under  the 
name  of  New  Jersey.  The  Duke  of  York  allowed  his 
own  province  to  hold  an  assembly,  that  the  people  might 
make  their  own  laws  ;  and  in  1683  they  obtained  a 
charter  for  themselves,  much  like  those  of  the  colonies 
farther  east.  When  the  duke  became  king,  under  the 
name  of  James  II.,  he  tried  to  take  away  this  charter, 
but  never  succeeded.  New  York  remained  an  English 
province,  and  lost  some  of  its  Dutch  peculiarities :  but 
some  of  these  traits  lingered  for  a  good  many  years ; 
and  Dutch  was  long  the  prevailing  language.  There 
were  still  Dutch  schools,  where  English  was  taught 
only  as  an  accomplishment ;  but  there  was  no  college 
till  King's  College  (now  Columbia)  was  founded,  in 
1754.  After  the  English  had  taken  possession,  a  great 
many  immigrants  came  to  New  York,  though  not  so 
many  as  to  Philadelphia ;  and  these  new-comers  repre 
sented  many  different  nations.  Indeed,  Holland  itself 
had  long  been  the  abode  of  men  from  a  great  many 
nations,  both  because  of  its  commercial  prosperity,  and 
from  its  offering  an  asylum  to  those  persecuted  for  their 
religion.  So  there  was  an  unusual  variety  of  people  in 
New  Amsterdam  from  the  first;  and  it  is  said  that 
eighteen  languages  were  already  spoken  there  when  it 
was  transferred  to  the  English.  Thus  New  York 
seemed  marked  out,  from  the  very  beginning,  for  a  cos 
mopolitan  city, — for  the  home  of  people  from  all  parts 
of  the  globe. 


OLD    DUTCH    TIMES    IN    NEW   JERSEY.  99 

NEW  JERSEY. 

When  the  first  Dutch  settlers  built  their  fort  on  Man 
hattan  Island,  in  1614,  they  also  built  a  redoubt  on 
what  is  now  the  New  Jersey  shore,  opposite  ;  and  they 
afterwards  claimed  the  whole  region  as  a  part  of  New 
Netherlands.  Danish  settlers  also  came  very  early,  and 
settlers  came  from  the  English  and  Swedish  colonies ; 
but  this  the  Dutch  did  not  approve :  so  they  first  used 
the  help  of  the  Swedes  in  driving  out  the  English,  and 
then  drove  out  the  Swedes  themselves,  sending  most  of 
them  back  to  Europe.  When  the  English  got  posses 
sion  of  New  Netherlands,  in  1664,  and  the  king  gave 
it  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  he  in  turn  sold  the 
southern  part  of  it  to  two  English  noblemen,  Lord 
Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret.  The  latter  had  been 
governor  of  the  Island  of  Jersey  in  the  British  Channel ; 
and  so  he  chose  that  name  for  the  colony.  His  wife 
was  named  Elizabeth  ;  and  he  named  a  village  Eliza- 
bethtown,  after  her.  His  part  was  called  East  New 
Jersey,  and  Lord  Berkeley's  was  West  New  Jersey ;  and 
the  colony  was  commonly  called  "  The  Jerseys,"  for 
many  years.  The  whole  region  was  gradually  pur 
chased  by  the  Society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  and  was 
chiefly  settled  by  them.  Other  persecuted  people  came 
there  also,  especially  Presbyterians  from  Scotland. 
They  had  perfect  liberty  of  conscience  ;  and  their  char 
ter  said,  "  No  person  shall  at  any  time,  in  any  way,  or 
on  any  pretence,  be  called  in  question,  or  in  the  least 
punished  and  hurt,  for  opinion  in  religion."  At  last,  in 
1702,  the  colony  was  given  up  by  the  proprietors  to 
Queen  Anne,  that  a  royal  governor  might  be  appointed. 


ioo  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

The  two  provinces  were  then  made  into  one,  though 
they  had  separate  legislatures  for  a  long  time.  Free 
schools  were  introduced ;  and  the  College  of  New  Jer 
sey,  now  Princeton  College,  was  founded  in  1746.  The 
colony  remained  quiet  and  at  peace,  down  to  the  time 
of  the  American  Revolution.  "In  all  its  borders," 
said  a  traveller,  "  there  is  not  a  poor  body,  nor  one 
that  wants." 


CHAPTER   XII. 


THE   FRIENDS    IN   PENNSYLVANIA,   AND    THE    SWEDES 
IN   DELAWARE. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

PENNSYLVANIA 
was  founded  in  a 
different  way  from  any 
of  the  other  colonies, 
for  it  was  entirely 
planned  by  one  great 
and  good  man,  who 
was  the  proprietor  of 
the  soil  where  the  col 
ony  was  established. 
His  name  was  William 
Penn.  He  was  a  young 
Englishman,  highly 
educated,  and  rich. 
He  had  studied  at  Ox 
ford  University,  and 
at  a  college  in  France  ; 
but  he  was  expelled 
from  Oxford  for  tak 
ing  part  in  Quaker 
meetings,  and  in  some  trouble  that  grew  out  of  them  ; 


STATUE    OF    PENN    IN    PHILADELPHIA. 


I.O7  ^YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 

q,nd  lie  ,w^s  afterwards  imprisoned  several  times  for 
the  -same^  offence.  He  became  a  very  thoughtful  and 
conscientious  man.  It  was  said  as  a  joke,  among  his 
former  fashionable  friends,  that  "  William  Penn  was 
a  Quaker,  or  some  very  melancholy  thing."  He  spent 
his  money  freely  in  aiding  those  who  were  punished  for 
conscience'  sake  ;  and  finally  he  resolved  to  found  a 
coiony  in  America,  where  such  persecuted  people  could 
take  refuge. 

It  happened  that  his  father,  who  was  a  famous  ad 
miral  in  the  English  navy,  had  left,  at  his  death,  a 
claim  for  a  large  sum  of  money  which  he  had  lent  to 
Charles  II.  before  he  came  to  the  throne  ;  and  William 
Penn  proposed  to  the  king  to  give  him  a  province  in 
America,  instead  of  that  money.  This  the  king  was 
very  glad  to  do  ;  for  he  had  plenty  of  American  lands, 
and  very  little  of  English  gold  and  silver.  So  William 
Penn  became  the  sole  proprietor  of  a  great  tract  of 
country,  on  condition  of  paying  two  beaver-skins  annu 
ally  to  the  king.  Penn  wished  to  have  this  territory 
named  Sylvania,  because  it  was  covered  with  forests 
(sylva  being  Latin  for  "  a  forest ")  ;  but  his  name  was 
added  to  the  word,  against  his  wish,  by  the  king ;  and 
the  whole  region  was  called  Pennsylvania.  It  had 
been  visited  by  the  Swedes  and  Finns  in  1627,  and  had 
afterwards  submitted  to  the  Dutch  of  New  Nether 
lands,  and  had  passed,  with  all  the  Dutch  possessions, 
into  English  hands.  Wrilliam  Penn  sent  out  some  emi 
grants  in  1 68 1,  and  came  in  person  the  year  after.  He 
was  received  with  great  enthusiasm.  It  seemed  very 
appropriate  that  he  should  come  in  the  ship  "Wel 
come."  It  was  right  that  he  should  be  welcomed ;  for 


THE    FRIENDS    IN    PENNSYLVANIA.  103 

he  had  permitted  every  poor  emigrant  to  settle  on  this 
land  which  the  king  had  given  to  Penn  himself :  and 
he  had  promised  to  secure  freedom  of  thought  and 
speech  to  all.  He  called  it  a  "  free  colony  for  all  man 
kind,"  and  wrote  to  the  people,  "You  shall  be  governed 
by  laws  of  your  own  making.  I  shall  not  usurp  the 
right  of  any,  or  oppress  his  person."  So  when  the 
Quaker  King,  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  had  landed, 
the  English,  Dutch,  and  Swedish  settlers  came  together: 
the  deeds  given  William  Penn  by  the  king  were  public 
ly  read ;  and  he  addressed  the  people,  who  heard  him 
with  delight.  The  next  year  he  bought  the  ground  for 
his  chief  city  from  some  Swedes,  who  had  bought  it 
from  the  Indians  ;  and  he  laid  out  the  city,  and  gave  it 
the  name  "  Philadelphia,"  which  means  "  brotherly  love." 
He  built  it  on  the  plan  of  the  ancient  city  of  Babylon ; 
and  he  wished  to  have  it  "  a  faire  and  greene  country 
towne."  At  first  it  consisted  of  three  or  four  little 
cottages ;  and  some  of  the  people  lived  in  hollow  trees ; 
but  in  three  years  it  gained  more  than  New  York 
gained  in  fifty,  though  New  York  has  since  outstripped 
it,  being  far  better  situated  for  commerce. 

William  Penn  remained  only  two  years  in  his  colony, 
and  then  went  back  to  England,  where  he  staid  a 
long  time.  During  almost  all  this  time,  the  people 
governed  themselves,  choosing  their  own  officers,  and 
making  their  own  laws.  There  was  no  tax  to  support 
the  poor,  because  none  was  needed.  Every  man  who 
paid  a  tax  for  other  purposes  had  a  right  to  vote,  with 
out  regard  to  religious  belief,  or  to  nationality.  No 
oath  was  required  of  witnesses  in  court.  Theatrical 
exhibitions  were  forbidden ;  and  some  other  laws  were 


104  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

made  that  resembled  those  of  the  Puritans :  but  there 
was  no  religious  persecution,  and  there  was  but  one 
trial  for  witchcraft,  and  then  the  prisoner  was  convicted 
only  of  being  "  suspected  of  being  a  witch."  Neverthe 
less,  some  of  the  cruel  punishments  that  were  usual  in 
that  age  came  gradually  into  use  in  Pennsylvania  ;  and 
the  whipping-post,  the  pillory,  and  the  stocks  were  set 
up  in  the  market-place.  Slavery  also  existed  in  Penn 
sylvania  ;  and,  if  a  slave  killed  his  master,  it  was  the 
law  that  he  should  be  burned,  though  there  is  no  record 
that  this  ever  happened  there. 

After  fifteen  years  of  absence,  William  Penn  returned 
to  his  colony,  and  staid  two  years,  finding  it  very  much 
changed  since  he  left  it.  He  was  personally  very 
popular ;  and  every  one  knew  how  generously  he  had 
thrown  open  to  all  settlers  the  estates  that  had  been 
given  him  by  the  king.  He  himself  felt  that  he  had 
made  great  sacrifices.  "  O  Pennsylvania,"  he  once 
wrote,  "  what  hast  thou  not  cost  me !  Above  thirty 
thousand  pounds  more  than  I  ever  got  for  it,  two 
hazardous  and  most  fatiguing  voyages,  and  my  son's 
soul  almost."  This  referred  to  a  son  of  his,  who  had 
behaved  very  badly  during  the  father's  absence.  The 
people  of  the  colony  knew  what  he  had  done  for  them, 
and  were  grateful ;  and  yet,  after  all,  they  were  not  so 
well  contented  as  in  those  colonies  where  every  man 
owned  his  own  clearing.  And,  after  William  Penn  had 
•died,  the  settlers  did  not  pay  so  much  respect  to  the 
rights  of  his  successors  as  they  had  paid  to  his  rights  ; 
and  there  was  a  good  deal  of  discord  in  the  colony. 

The  early  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania  were  a  very 
steady  and  industrious  race.  They  lived  by  farming, 


THE    FRIENDS    IN    PENNSYLVANIA.  105 

commerce,  and  ship-building;  constructing  many 
vessels  for  sale,  as  well  as  for  their  own  use.  The 
great  coal-mines  of  the  State  were  not  then  discovered  ; 
but  some  iron  furnaces  were  quite  early  established. 
Most  of  the  English  settlers  preserved  the  simplicity  of 
Quaker  ways  ;  but  they  led  very  comfortable  and  even 
luxurious  lives.  They  did  not  establish  schools  and 
colleges  quite  so  early  as  the  eastern  colonies ;  yet  the 
first  girls'  school  in  America  is  said  to  have  been 
established  at  Lewistown,  at  a  time  when  Delaware 
was  a  part  of  Pennsylvania.  The  University  of  Penn 
sylvania  was  founded  in  1749. 

Philadelphia  remained,  almost  down  to  the  Revolu 
tion,  "  a  faire  greene  country  towne,"  such  as  William 
Penn  had  desired.  The  houses  were  generally  of 
brick  or  stone,  surrounded  by  gardens  and  orchards. 
A  German  traveller  said,  in  1748,  that  peaches  were  so 
abundant  around  the  town,  that  the  very  pigs  were  fed 
on  them ;  and  that  the  country-people  in  Europe 
guarded  even  their  turnips  more  carefully  than  people 
in  Pennsylvania  guarded  the  most  delicious  fruits. 
Any  one  who  chose  could  get  over  any  wall,  and  help 
himself.  Every  Philadelphian,  he  said,  had  so  much 
liberty  and  abundance,  that  he  could  live  in  his  own 
house  like  a  king.  Yet  in  those  days  a  Philadelphia 
shop  was  only  a  common  dwelling-house  with  goods  in 
the  lower  rooms,  and  with  something  hung  over  the 
door  to  show  what  was  sold  within,  —  perhaps  a  basket, 
a  book,  a  wooden  beehive,  or  a  model  of  an  anchor  or 
a  ship.  In  the  street  before  the  shop  there  was  no 
pavement,  only  a  narrow  flagging  in  the  middle  of  the 
sidewalk.  There  were  weekly  market-days,  which 


io6  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

were  a  kind  of  holiday  ;  and  there  was  a  public  fail 
twice  a  year.  At  first  the  people  were  of  a  sober  kind, 
and  had  few  amusements ;  but  later  there  was  a  dan 
cing-school,  and  then  a  public  ball-room,  and  a  race- 
ground,  and  a  pack  of  hounds.  As  for  travelling  about, 
there  was  not  very  much  of  that  to  be  done.  Not  only 
were  there  no  railroads,  but  the  common  roads  were 
bad,  and  the  conveyances  slow.  In  1772  a  stage,  called 
"  The  Flying  Machine,"  was  advertised  to  go  through 
from  Philadelphia  to  New  York  in  "  the  remarkably 
short  time  of  two  days." 

The  Pennsylvania  Colony  was  for  many  years  more 
prosperous  and  comfortable  than  any  other.  Most  of 
the  foreign  immigration  came  to  the  port  of  Philadel 
phia  ;  and  sometimes  twelve  thousand  Germans  arrived 
in  a  single  year.  About  a  third  of  the  population 
were  Quakers  ;  and  these  were  a  thrifty  and  orderly 
people.  At  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution, 
Pennsylvania  ranked  third  among  the  colonies  in 
population  and  power ;  being  only  surpassed  by  Vir 
ginia  and  Massachusetts. 

DELAWARE. 

It  happened  once  that  an  Englishman,  Lord  de  la 
Ware,  who  was  then  governor  of  Virginia,  made  an  ex- 
ploring-expedition  up  the  coast,  and  entered  a  beautiful 
river,  which  was  afterwards  called  the  Delaware,  from 
his  name.  This  was  in  1610.  Twenty  years  after,  the 
Dutch  tried  to  found  a  colony  there  ;  but  the  colonists 
were  all  killed  by  the  Indians.  Some  years  after  that, 
it  was  permanently  settled  by  Sweden.  It  was  the  only 
colony  that  Sweden  ever  founded. 


THE   SWEDES    IN    DELAWARE.  107 

It  happened  in  this  way.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  the 
most  famous  king  of  Sweden,  —  so  famous,  that  he  was 
called  "The  Lion  of  the  North,"  —  had  heard  about 
America,  and  resolved  to  plant  a  colony  there.  So  a 
company  was  formed,  which  invited  colonists,  from 
every  part  of  Europe,  to  go  out  under  the  control 
of  the  Swedish  Government.  The  company  resolved, 
in  particular,  to  allow  no  slaves  among  them. 
"  Slaves,"  they  said,  "  cost  a  great  deal,  labor  with  re 
luctance,  and  soon  perish  from  hard  usage.  The  Swe 
dish  nation  is  laborious  and  intelligent ;  and  surely  we 
shall  gain  more  by  a  free  people  with  wives  and  chil 
dren."  Gustavus  Adolphus  called  the  proposed  Amer 
ican  colony  "  the  jewel  of  his  kingdom,"  and  thought 
that  it  would  be  a  benefit  to  "  all  oppressed  Christen 
dom." 

Unfortunately  the  great  Gustavus  was  killed  in  bat 
tle  in  1632  j  and  his  daughter  Christina,  a  little  girl 
only  six  years  old,  became  queen  in  his  place.  But  the 
Swedish  prime-minister,  Oxenstiern,  was  one  of  the 
wisest  statesmen  in  Europe  ;  and  he"  Vas  resolved  to 
carry  out  the  plan  of  the  American  colony:  so  he  sent 
out,  in  1638,  a  large  number  of  Swedes  and  Finlanders, 
who  built  a  fort,  and  called  it  Christiana  after  their  little 
queen.  The  colony  itself  they  called  New  Sweden. 
Many  more  colonists  followed,  and  their  settlements  ex 
tended  into  what  is  now  Pennsylvania ;  so  that  the  gov 
ernor's  house  was  at  one  time  only  a  few  miles  from  what 
is  now  Philadelphia.  But  this  did  not  please  the  Dutch 
settlers  in  New  Netherlands ;  for  they  considered  that 
they  had  taken  possession  of  the  region  first,  and 
that  the  Swedes  were  intruders.  The  Swedes  were 


io8  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

very  enterprising,  and  rivalled  the  Dutch  in  buying 
tobacco  from  Virginia  traders,  and  in  selling  beaver- 
skins  and  other  furs.  Still  the  Dutch  did  not  attack 
them,  because  the  Swedish  Government  was  power 
ful  in  Europe,  and  would  be  sure  to  sustain  its  col 
onies.  However,  the  Dutch  built  a  fort  of  their  own, 
near  Christiana;  but  the  Swedes  captured  it.  Then 
the  Dutch  company  would  bear  it  no  longer;  and 
they  ordered  their  governor,  Peter  Stuyvesant  "to 
revenge  their  wrongs,  to  drive  the  Swedes  from  the 
river,  or  to  compel  their  submission."  So,  in  1655,  the 
Dutch  governor  sailed  up  the  Delaware  River,  took 
back  his  own  fort,  and  then  took  the  Swedish  forts. 
The  Swedish  Government  had,  by  that  time,  grown 
much  weaker  in  Europe,  and  did  nothing  to  defend  its 
only  colony;  and,  after  seventeen  years  of  separate 
existence,  New  Sweden  was  merged  in  New  Nether 
lands. 

Then  came  the  English,  in  1664,  and  drove  out  the 
Dutch  from  the  whole  of  New  Netherlands;  so  that 
Delaware  belonged,  in  turn,  to  three  different  nations. 
After  this  it  was  at  one  time  a  part  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  at  another  time  a  separate  colony;  but  it  was 
always  a  small  and  peaceful  community,  being  shel 
tered  from  the  Indian  attacks  by  the  other  colonies 
around  it. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   OLD   DOMINION   AND   MARYLAND. 
VIRGINIA. 

I  HAVE  described  the  early  colonies  in  geographical 
order,  beginning  with  New  England,  because  this 
order  is  so  much  easier  to  remember  than  any  other. 
But  no  colony  can  claim  to  date  back  so  far  as  Vir 
ginia,  "  The  Old  Dominion  "  as  it  is  sometimes  called. 
Nothing  but  a  ruined  church,  at  a  place  called  James 
town,  now  marks  the  spot  where  the  first  Virginia 
settlement  was  made,  in  the  year  1607,  thirteen  years 
before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth. 
When  King  James  I.  gave  a  charter  to  two  companies, 
one  of  which  was  to  settle  south  of  a  certain  region, 
and  the  other  north  of  it,  leaving  a  vacant  space  be 
tween  them,  it  was  the  southern  or  Virginia  company 
that  settled  Virginia. 

The  commander  of  the  vessels  that  brought  out  the 
first  Virginia  colony  was  Capt.  Newport ;  but  the  lead 
ing  person  among  those  on  board  was  Capt.  John 
Smith,  a  man  who  had  led  a  very  strange  life.  He  was 
born  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  in  1579.  When  he  was 
a  boy  of  thirteen,  he  sold  his  school-books  and  satchel, 
meaning  to  run  away  to  sea.  /Then  his  father  died  sud 

no 


VIRGINIA. 


Ill 


denly :  and  he  decided  that  he  ought  to  stay  at  home. 
But  he  was  willing  to  stay  only  two  years ;  after  which 


he  left  England,  went 
to  France  and  Hol 
land,  and  fought  in  vari 
ous  armies  for  several 
years.  He  had  all  sorts 
of  wild  adventures  in 
these  wars.  Once,  when 
sailing  from  Marseilles 
to  Italy,  he  was  accused 
by  some  superstitious 
fellow-passengers  of  being  the  cause  of  a  storm  that 


RUINS   OF  JAMESTOWN. 


112  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED    STATES. 

had  arisen  :  so  they  threw  him  overboard.  He  swam 
to  an  island,  and  was  presently  taken  off  by  a  French 
ship.  This  ship  engaged  in  a  sea-fight  while  he  was  oiv 
board  ;  and  he  so  distinguished  himself,  that  a  part  of 
the  plunder  of  the  hostile  ship  was  given  to  him.  After 
wards  he  went  to  fight  against  the  Turks  ;  and,  during 
a  long  siege,  a  certain  Turkish  officer  requested  that 
some  Christian  officer  would  meet  him  in  single  com 

bat  "to  amuse  the  ladies." 
Smith  accepted  the  chal 
lenge,  and  killed  not  only 
this  officer,  but  two  others 
in  succession.  After  a 
time  he  was  taken  pris 
oner,  was  sold  as  a  slave, 
and  was  pitied  and  aided 
by  his  mistress,  whose 
name  was  Tragabizanda. 
Then,  making  his  escape, 
he  reached  Russia,  went 
thence  to  Austria,  Spain, 
and  Morocco,  and  came 


CAPT.    JOHN   SM.TH.      - 

ready  for  fresh  adventures. 

He  soon  heard  of  Captain  Newport's  expedition  to  Vir 
ginia,  and  eagerly  joined  it. 

They  sailed  Dec.  19,  1606,  with  three  vessels;  the 
party  consisting  of  a  hundred  and  five  men  in  all, 
without  women  or  children.  When  they  at  last  entered 
Chesapeake  Bay,  the  explorers  were  delighted  with  all 
they  saw  ;  and  Captain  Smith  wrote  that  "  heaven  and 
earth  never  agreed  better  to  frame  a  place  for  man's 


VIRGINIA.  1 13 

habitation."  They  called  the  capes  between  which  they 
entered  the  bay,  "Cape  Henry"  and  "  Cape  Charles," 
after  their  young  princes.  They  named  "  Old  Point 
Comfort"  for  the  good  anchorage  which  they  found 
there  after  a  severe  storm  ;  and  they  called  James 
River  "  the  King's  River,"  and  their  first  settlement 
"James  City"  (now  Jamestown)  in  honor  of  their 
king.  They  landed  at  this  place  May  13,  1607,  and 
founded  the  first  permanent  English  colony  in  North 
America. 

It  had  been  intended  that  Smith  should  be  one  of 
the  directors  of  the  colony;  but  the  others  were  all 
jealous  of  him,  and  so  prevented  him  from  taking  that 
position.  But  they  could  not  prevent  him  from  being 
the  ablest  man  among  them ;  and  so  they  often  had  to 
turn  to  him,  and  finally  made  him  their  president. 
The  truth  was,  that  the  colonists  were  a  troublesome 
class  to  deal  with.  Many  of  them  were  not  at  all  in 
dustrious  or  energetic.  There  were  very  few  mechan 
ics  or  farmers  among  them,  though  these  are  the  men 
most  needed  in  a  new  settlement.  Many  of  them  were 
"  useless  gentlemen  ;  "  and  some  were  pardoned  crimi 
nals.  Some  of  them  expected  to  reach  the  Pacific 
Ocean  soon  after  landing,  and  were  discouraged  be 
cause  they  did  not.  Others  went  looking  everywhere 
for  gold,  and  loaded  one  of  their  ships  with  earth, 
mistaking  it  for  precious  ore.  Smith  wrote  once  to  the 
company  in  England  who  had  fitted  out  the  colony : 
"When  you  send  again,  I  entreat  you  rather  send 
thirty  carpenters,  husbandmen,  gardeners,  fishermen, 
blacksmiths,  and  diggers-up  of  the  roots,  well  provided, 
rather  than  a  thousand  of  such  as  we  have."  Then 
8 


ii4  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

they  were  reckless  and  wasteful,  and  built,  says  an  old 
traveller,  "  a  church  that  cost  fifty  pounds,  and  a  tavern 
that  cost  five  hundred."  So  Capt.  John  Smith  had  a 
good  deal  to  do  in  keeping  them  to  their  duty,  teaching 
them  to  cut  down  trees,  and  to  build  houses,  drilling 
them  as  soldiers,  and  exploring  the  country  to  procure 
food  for  them.  His  punishment  for  idleness  was  star 
vation  ;  and,  in  order  to  cure  profane  swearing,  he  had 
a  daily  account  kept  of  every  man's  oaths;  and  at 
night,  in  penalty  for  each  oath,  he  poured  a  can  of  cold 
water  down  the  offender's  sleeve.  He  himself  worked 
harder  than  anybody ;  so  that  the  others  were  put  to 
shame  by  his  example.  And  after  a  while,  when  the 
wives  and  children  of  these  men  came  out  to  them, 
and  they  began  to  have  comfortable  homes,  they  did  a 
great  deal  better ;  and  Captain  Smith  wrote  home  that 
they  had  become  "  accomplished  wood-cutters."  Yet 
still  one  of  their  governors  said  that  what  the  colony 
most  needed  was  "  a  few  honest  laborers,  burdened 
with  children." 

Captain  Smith  wrote  some  vivid  accounts  of  the  early 
discomforts  of  the  colony.  He  says,  "When  I  first 
went  to  Virginia,  I  well  remember,  we  did  hang  an 
awning  (which  is  an  old  sail)  to  three  or  four  trees,  to 
shadow  us  from  the  sun  :  our  walls  were  rails  of  wood  ; 
our  seats  unhewed  trees,  till  we  cut  planks  ;  our  pulpit 
a  bar  of  wood  nailed  to  two  neighboring  trees.  In  foul 
weather  we  shifted  into  an  old  rotten  tent,  for  we  had 
few  better  ;  and  this  came  by  way  of  adventure  for  new. 
This  was  our  church,  till  we  built  a  homely  thing  like  a 
barn  set  upon  crotchets,  covered  with  rafts,  sedge,  and 
earth,  as  were  also  the  walls.  The  best  of  our  houses 


VIRGINIA.  115 

were  of  the  like  curiosity,  but,  for  the  most  part,  far 
worse  workmanship,  that  could  neither  well  defend 
wind  nor  rain."  ..."  Notwithstanding,"  he  after 
wards  says,  "  out  of  the  relics  of  our  mercies,  time  and 
experience  had  brought  that  country  to  a  great  happi 
ness,  had  they  not  so  much  doted  on  their  tobacco, 
on  whose  firmest  foundation  there  is  small  stability." 
It  seems  from  this  that  Captain  Smith  foresaw  what 
really  happened,  and  feared  that  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco  would  exhaust  the  soil  of  Virginia,  and  would 
be  in  other  respects  injurious. 

Captain  Smith,  at  different  times,  made  expeditions 
along  the  coast  as  far  as  Maine.  He  visited  the  Isles 
of  Shoals  in  New  Hampshire,  which  were  formerly 
called  "  Smith's  Isles,"  and  on  which  a  monument  is 
now  erected  to  his  memory.  It  was  he  who  first  gave 
the  name  of  "  New  England  "  to  that  part  of  the  coun 
try  ;  and  the  names  of  "  Plymouth  "  and  "  Cape  Ann  " 
and  "  Charles  River  "  appear  first  on  a  map  made  by 
him.  He  also  made  expeditions  into  the  interior  of  the 
country.  On  one  of  these  he  was  made  prisoner  by  the 
Indians ;  and  his  few  companions  were  killed.  He, 
however,  amused  his  captors  by  showing  them  his  com 
pass,  and  by  explaining  to  them  the  movements  of  the 
earth  and  sun  ;  so  that  they  spared  him.  Then  he  puz 
zled  them  very  much  by  writing  a  letter  to  be  sent  to  his 
friends ;  for  the  Indians  could  not  well  understand  how 
a  message  could  be  put  on  a  piece  of  paper.  Then  he 
was  condemned  to  death  by  Powhatan,  the  Indian  chief ; 
but  the  chief's  daughter  Pocahontas,  a  girl  twelve  years 
old,  threw  herself  between  the  prisoner  and  the  uplifted 
tomahawk,  and  Captain  Smith  was  spared.  This  story 


n6 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


has  been  doubted  in  later  times ;  but  it  is  certain  that 
there  was  such  a  person  as  Pocahontas,  and  that,  when 
she  grew  to  be  a  woman,  she  became  a  Christian,  was 
married  to  an  Englishman  named  Rolfe,  and  went  with 
him  to  England,  where,  as  an  English  writer  of  that 
day  says,  "  She  did  not  onely  accustom  herself  to  civilite, 
but  carried  herself  as  the  daughter  of  a  king."  She 


SMITH   SHOWING   COMPASS  TO   THE  INDIANS. 

died  soon  after.  Capt.  John  Smith  also  went  to  Eng 
land  in  1609,  to  be  cured  of  a  severe  wound  ;  and  he 
never  returned  to  the  colony.  After  his  departure, 
things  grew  worse  and  worse  among  the  emigrants ;  and 
in  six  months  they  left  Jamestown  in  despair,  meaning 
to  return  to  England  forever.  When  Captain  Smith  had 
left  them,  there  had  been  five  hundred  of  them ;  but 


VIRGINIA.  117 

now  there  were  only  sixty.  "None  dropped  a  tear," 
they  wrote  ;  "for  none  had  enjoyed  one  day  of  happi 
ness."  But,  as  they  went  down  the  James  River,  they 
met  the  long-boat  of  a  vessel ;  and  it  proved  to  belong 
to  an  English  ship  which  had  brought  them  out  a  sup 
ply  of  provisions  and  a  new  governor,  Lord  De  la  Ware, 
or  Delaware.  Then  they  returned,  and  went  on  living 
in  Jamestown  ;  but  that  period  of  suffering  was  always 
remembered  as  "  the  starving  time." 

The  settlers  in  Virginia  did  not  generally  live  in 
villages,  like  those  of  the  more  northern  colonies. 
The  soil  of  Virginia  was  so  productive,  and  the  cultiva 
tion  of  tobacco  so  profitable,  that  the  men  paid  little 
attention  to  commerce  or  the  fisheries  ;  and  they  were 
not,  like  the  eastern  colonists,  obliged  to  live  near 
one  another  for  protection  against  the  Indians.  So 
no  large  towns  or  villages  were  established ;  but  they 
cultivated  separate  plantations,  and  it  became  the 
practice  to  send  out  "  apprenticed  servants  "  from  Eng 
land,  who  were  sold  for  a  certain  number  of  years  to 
the  planters.  These  servants  were  men  who  had  com 
mitted  crimes,  or  rebelled  against  the  government,  and 
who  were  sent  to  America  in  order  that  they  might  be 
of  some  use.  After  a  time,  in  the  year  1619,  a  Dutch 
man-of-war  brought  a  cargo  of  twenty  negroes  from 
Africa ;  and  the  planters  eagerly  bought  them,  thus 
laying  the  foundation  for  the  institution  of  slavery, 
which  prevailed  through  the  Southern  States  until 
within  a  very  few  years.  The  slaves  became  the  field- 
laborers  on  the  plantations,  and  were  also  the  mechan 
ics  ;  all  articles  of  luxury  being  brought  from  England, 
and  being  paid  for,  like  all  else,  with  tobacco.  Taxes 


n8  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

were  payable  in  tobacco ;  and  so  were  the  salaries  ot 
the  clergy,  and  all  private  debts.  In  the  early  days  of 
the  colony,  ninety  respectable  young  women  were  sent 
out  by  the  company  from  England  ;  and  whoever  took 
one  of  them  for  a  wife  must  pay  a  hundred  pounds  of 
tobacco.  Fines  were  paid  in  the  same  commodity.  If 
a  woman  was  convicted  of  slander,  her  husband  had  to 
pay  five  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco.  Legacies  were  left 
by  will,  in  the  form  of  so  much  tobacco.  A  good  deal 
of  comfort  was  enjoyed  in  Virginia  at  that  period  ;  and 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  rough  and  generous  hospi 
tality  and  a  manly  out-of-door  life  ;  but  there  was  very 
little  education.  A  Virginia  governor,  writing  in  1671, 
said,  "  I  thank  God  there  are  no  free  schools,  nor  print 
ing  ;  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  them  these  hundred 
years."  Another  governor  gave  orders  "  to  allow  no 
person  to  use  a  printing-press  on  any  occasion  what 
ever  ;  "  and  still  another  taxed  schoolmasters  at  twenty 
shillings  a  head.  Yet  William  and  Mary  College,  in 
Virginia,  is,  next  to  Harvard,  the  oldest  college  in 
America,  having  been  founded  in  1692.  It  had  twenty 
thousand  acres  of  land  from  the  English  king  and 
queen,  for  whom  it  was  named  ;  and  duties  were  levied 
for  its  support. 

At  first  the  Virginia  settlers  had  no  power  given 
them  to  make  laws  for  themselves  ;  and  every  thing  was 
done  by  a  council  appointed  by  the  king.  Many  of  the 
early  laws  were  very  severe,  especially  about  religious 
matters.  In  1610  it  was  the  law,  that,  if  any  man 
absented  himself  from  church  for  a  single  Sunday,  he 
must  lose  his  provision  and  allowance  for  a  week ;  and, 
if  he  repeated  the  offence,  he  must  lose  his  allowance, 


VIRGINIA.  119 

and  be  whipped ;  and,  if  he  offended  a  third  time,  he 
must  suffer  death.  At  a  later  time  it  was  decreed,  that, 
for  the  first  absence  from  church,  he  must  be  tied  neck 
and  heels  that  night,  and  be  a  slave  to  the  colony  for 
the  next  week ;  for  the  second  offence,  he  must  be  a 
slave  a  month ;  and,  for  the  third  offence,  a  year  and  a 
day.  There  were  severe  laws  against  swearing  and 
scolding  ;  and  a  woman  who  was  an  habitual  scold 
might  be  ordered  to  be  ducked  three  times  in  running 
water.  In  Virginia  men  and  women  might  be  pun 
ished  by  being  publicly  whipped  ;  or  by  being  placed 
in  the  stocks ;  or  by  standing  in  church,  during  the 
service,  with  white  sheets  over  them,  and  white  wands 
in  their  hands  ;  or  by  standing  at  the  church-door  with 
the  names  of  their  crimes  pinned  upon  their  breasts. 
There  were  also  laws  against  the  entrance  of  Quakers 
and  Roman  Catholics  into  the  colony ;  and  they  were 
severely  punished  if  they  came.  All  these  things  were 
the  practice  of  that  period  ;  and  very  few  communities 
were  free  from  them. 

The  influence  of  the  clergy  was  not  so  great  in  Vir 
ginia  as  in  the  New  England  Colonies ;  and  the  char 
acter  of  the  early  clergymen  was  not  so  high.  Many 
instances  are  recorded  of  drunken  and  disorderly  min 
isters  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  came  to  the  Vir 
ginia  Colony,  and  set  a  very  bad  example  in  the  way  of 
drunkenness,  gambling,  and  other  vices.  Society  in 
Virginia  was  free,  hospitable,  and  not  very  severe  as  to 
morality.  Many  of  the  colonial  gentlemen  lived  on 
large  plantations,  owned  many  thousand  acres  of  land, 
held  many  slaves,  and  kept  open  house.  There  was  a 
good  deal  of  show  and  ceremony  on  public  occasions. 


120  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED   STATES. 

One  of  the  early  governors,  whenever  he  attended 
church,  did  so  with  a  formality  thus  described  by  his 
secretary :  "  Every  Sunday,  when  the  lord-governor  and 
captain-general  goeth  to  church,  he  is  accompanied  by 
all  the  counsellors,  captains,  other  officers,  and  all  the 
gentlemen,  with  a  guard  of  Halbardiers  in  his  lordship's 
livery  (fair  red  cloakes),  to  the  number  of  fifty,  on  each 
side,  and  behind  him.  His  lordship  hath  his  seat  in  the 
Quoir,  in  a  great  velvet  chair,  with  a  cloth,  with  a  velvet 
cushion  spread  before  him,  on  which  he  kneeleth ;  and 
on  each  side  sit  the  council,  captains,  and  officers,  each 
in  their  place ;  and,  when  he  returneth  home  again,  he 
is  waited  on  to  his  house  in  the  same  manner." 

After  a  time  the  people  of  Virginia  secured  the  right 
to  govern  themselves.  They  had  a  legislature  of  their 
own  choosing,  called  "the  House  of  Burgesses,"  whose 
laws  only  needed  the  approval  of  the  company  in  Eng 
land  ;  and  a  written  constitution  was  obtained  at  last. 
The  existence  of  slavery  among  them  caused  much  igno 
rance  and  idleness,  as  the  wisest  Virginians  admitted  ; 
but  there  grew  up  an  aristocratic  class,  among  whom 
there  were  many  men  of  high  character  and  energy. 
There  still  remain  in  Virginia  the  ruins  of  many  old 
churches,  and  of  stately  houses  built  of  imported  brick, 
and  having  carved  mahogany  stairways,  the  memorials 
of  a  proud  and  wealthy  colony.  At  the  time  of  the 
American  Revolution,  Virginia  was  the  leader  among 
the  colonies :  it  was  the  first  to  propose  separation  from 
the  mother-country,  and  furnished  many  of  the  ablest 
men,  both  in  congress  and  IP  camp. 


MARYLAND.  121 

MARYLAND. 

The  first  settlement  in  what  is  now  Maryland  was 
made  by  a  party  from  Virginia,  headed  by  Capt.  Wil 
liam  Ciayborne,  who  had  a  permit  from  the  king  of 
England  to  make  discoveries,  and  to  engage  in  the  fur 
trade.  He  settled  on  Kent  Island,  in  Chesapeake 
Bay,  in  1631.  But  that  region  had  been  explored,  just 
before,  by  an  Englishman,  George  Calvert,  Lord  Balti 
more  ;  and  he  had  persuaded  King  Charles  I.  to 
give  him  a  charter  for  a  colony  there.  Lord  Baltimore/ 
died  before  the  charter  was  signed  ;  but  his  son  Cecil, 
the  second  Lord  Baltimore,  took  his  place.  In  this 
charter,  the  new  province  was  named  "  Terra  Mariae," 
or  "  Mary's  land,"  in  honor  of  Queen  Henrietta  Maria, 
wife  of  the  reigning  king.  Lord  Baltimore  sent  out  an 
expedition  under  his  brother,  Leonard  Calvert.  There 
were  some  two  hundred  colonists ;  and  they  sailed  in 
two  vessels,  the  "  Ark  "  and  the  "  Dove."  They  landed 
in  March,  1634;  and  their  first  settlement  was  called 
"St.  Mary's,"  in  honor  of  their  queen.  They  often 
called  themselves  "the  pilgrims  of  St.  Mary's." 

Maryland  was  the  only  early  colony  which  the  king 
expressly  agreed  to  let  entirely  alone.  Lord  Baltimore 
was  to  govern  it  without  help  or  hindrance  from  Eng 
land.  The  king  even  promised  not  to  tax  the  colony, 
on  condition  that  it  should  send  him  two  Indian  arrows 
every  year  in  token  of  subjection,  and  should  pay  him 
one-fifth  of  any  gold  or  silver  that  might  be  found 
within  its  borders.  The  charter  provided  that  the 
settlers  should  have  a  certain  share  in  making  the 
laws  j  but,  in  fact,  the  laws  were  chiefly  made  by  Lord 


122  YOUNG   FOLKS'   UNITED   STATES. 

Baltimore,  or  by  the  governors  whom  he  appointed. 
This  the  people  did  not  like  very  well ;  although  Lord 
Baltimore  was  a  good  and  enlightened  man,  and  was 
particularly  wise  in  regard  to  religious  toleration.  He 
was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  so  were  most  of  the  first 
colonists ;  but,  from  the  very  foundation  of  the  settle 
ment,  it  was  understood  that  all  Christian  denomina 
tions  were  to  be  on  an  equality  in  Maryland.  In 
1649  the  Assembly  passed  an  act,  providing  that 
"  no  person  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ " 
should  "  be  molested  in  their  religion,  or  in  the  free 
exercise  thereof,  or  be  compelled  to  the  belief  or 
practice  of  any  other  religion,  against  their  consent." 
This  did  not,  like  the  Rhode  Island  law,  afford  tolera 
tion  tcr  Jews,  and  all  others  who  were  not  Christians ; 
but  hardly  any  other  government  in  that  age  was  so  lib 
eral  as  Maryland  in  this  respect.  The  Quakers  were 
sometimes  punished  for  refusing  to  do  military  duty, 
but  never  for  preaching  their  religious  doctrines.  The 
colony  was  sometimes  called  "  the  land  of  the  sanctu 
ary." 

Many  Puritans,  driven  from  Virginia  by  persecution, 
took  refuge  in  Maryland,  and,  after  a  time,  made  a 
good  deal  of  trouble,  because  they  and  their  leader, 
Clayborne,  could  not  get  along  harmoniously  with  the 
Roman  Catholics.  The  Puritans  were  at  last  strong 
enough  to  pass  an  act,  declaring  that  the  Roman  Cath 
olics  were  not  entitled  to  protection  in  the  colony  which 
they  had  founded.  Then  the  king  settled  the  matter  by 
establishing  the  Church  of  England  in  Maryland,  in 
1691  ;  and,  some  twenty  years  after,  he  gave  the  colony 
into  the  hands  of  one  of  Lord  Baltimore's  descendants, 


MARYLAND.  123 

who  had  become  a  Protestant.  Apart  from  this  trouble 
about  religion,  Maryland  was  prosperous,  and  was  much 
like  Virginia  in  the  occupations  and  habits  of  the  peo 
ple.  It  was  a  slaveholding  community :  there  were  few 
large  towns ;  and  the  people  generally  lived  on  planta 
tions,  and  raised  tobacco.  Like  the  Virginians,  they 
paid  their  bills  with  this  plant,  and  their  State  House 
cost  forty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  tobacco.  The  In 
dians  molested  them  but  little  ;  and,  even  in  the  French 
and  Indian  wars,  it  was  only  the  far  western  settle 
ments  in  Maryland  that  were  disturbed.  There  was,  to 
be  sure,  a  good  deal  of  trouble  between  Maryland  and 
Pennsylvania  about  their  boundary  line  ;  but  that  was 
settled  at  last  by  appointing  two  surveyors,  Mason  and 
Dixon,  to  determine  it ;  and  the  line  they  drew  in  1750 
has  always  been  called  *|  Mason  and  Duron's  line.f* 
For  many  years  this  line  was  of  special  importance, 
because  it  divided  the  slaveholding  States  of  the  Union 
from  the  free  States.  -~~ 


Ir 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  SOUTHERN   COLONIES. 
NORTH   AND   SOUTH   CAROLINA. 

THE  name  of  Carolina  was  first  given  to  the  region 
that  now  bears  it,  by  a  little  colony  of  French 
Protestants,  under  Jean  Ribault,  who  arrived  as  early 
as  1562,  fleeing  from  persecution  at  home.  They  landed 
at  Port  Royal ;  built  there  a  fort  of  concrete,  a  part  of 
the  walls  of  which  may  still  be  seen  ;  and  raised  a  stone 
monument  engraved  with  the  lilies  which  were  the  sym 
bol  of  France.  They  named  the  new  country  Carolina, 
after  Charles  (or  Carolus)  IX.,  then  king  of  France. 
But  the  colony  failed,  like  almost  every  one  planted  on 
the  American  continent  during  that  century.  The  sur 
viving  Frenchmen  all  went  back  to  France ;  and  the 
attempt  was  abandoned.  It  was  almost  a  hundred  years 
before  settlements  began  to  be*made  from  Virginia,  from 
the  New  England  Colonies,  and  from  Barbadoes.  Then, 
after  a  while,  a  great  plan  was  formed  in  England  for 
colonizing  Carolina.  I  speak  of  North  and  South  Car 
olina  as  one  ;  for  they  were  pot  separated  till  long 
after. 

In    the   year    1663-  King    Charles    II.  of    England 
granted  the  whole  region  called  Carolina  to  eight  pro- 
124 


NORTH    AND    SOUTH    CAROLINA.  125 

prietors,  most  of  whom  were  noblemen  at  his  court. 
They  were  men  of  wealth  and  influence ;  and  they 
resolved  to  have  a  much  more  aristocratic  form  of 
government  than  any  yet  existing  in  America.  At  the 
request  of  the  king,  the  plan  for  this  was  drawn  up 
by  a  philosopher  named  John  Locke.  It  was  skil 
fully  arranged  in  order  to  keep  all  the  power  in  the 
hands  of  a  very  few  persons.  There  was  to  be  a  regu 
lar  order  of  nobility,  as  in  European  countries.  These 
nobles  were  to  be  called  earls  and  barons ;  and  the 
lands  were  all  to  belong  to  them,  while  the  condition 
of  the  common  people  was  to  be  little  better  than  that 
of  slaves.  But  it  turned  out  that  the  men  who  planned 
all  this  knew  very  little  about  colonies,  and  about  the 
strong  desire  the  people  would  show  for  self-govern 
ment.  King  Charles  and  John  Locke  thought  that  the 
way  to  have  the  colony  prosper  was  to  give  the  mass 
of  the  people  hardly  any  power;  but  it  had  been  found 
in  all  the  other  colonies  that  the  way  to  secure  pros 
perity  was  to  let  the  settlers  own  their  lands,  and  gov 
ern  themselves  as  far  as  possible.  So  it  turned  out,  at 
last,  that  the  proprietors  and  earls  and  barons,  who 
claimed  to  own  Carolina,  staid  at  home ;  and  the  plan 
of  government  from  which  so  much  was  expected  hardly 
went  into  operation  at  all. 

Meanwhile  settlers  came  from  all  directions  into 
Carolina.  There  were  English,  Irish,  Scotch,  Dutch, 
and  French.  These  last  were  Huguenots,  or  Prot 
estants,  fleeing  from  persecution,  like  those  other 
Frenchmen  who  had  given  Carolina  its  name,  and  set 
up  the  lilies  of  France  there,  a  hundred  years  before. 
These  Huguenots  had  quitted  France  forever,  and 


i26  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

sought  religious  freedom  under  the  English  flag.  Per 
sonal  freedom  was  not  valued  so  highly  in  the  colony ; 
and  negro  slaves  were  introduced  from  Barbadoes  in 
1665.  Except  in  this  respect,  the  colony  prospered  for 
a  long  time.  The  rice-plant  is  said  to  have  been  acci 
dentally  obtained  out  of  the  cargo  of  a  vessel  from 
Madagascar,  that  put  into  the  port  of  Charleston,  and 
it  was  soon  very  extensively  cultivated  ;  but  it  was  long 
before  cotton  was  introduced,  though  it  has  since 
become  the  chief  product  of  the  southern  part  of 
Carolina.  It  soon  became  the  habit  of  the  people  of 
that  southern  region  to  live  on  large  isolated  planta 
tions,  as  in  Virginia;  while,  in  the  northern  part  of 
Carolina,  the  settlers  lived  yet  farther  from  one  another, 
in  the  woods,  where  there  were  no  -roads ;  and  they 
could  only  travel  by  paths  "  blazed  "  through  the  woods 
by  notches  made  here  and  there  upon  the  trees. 
There  they  supported  themselves  by  cutting  timber, 
making  tar  and  turpentine^  hunting  the  bear,  and  trap 
ping  the  beaver ;  all  this  being  done  with  the  aid  of 
slaves,  whom  they  had  brought  with  them  from  Vir 
ginia.  So  the  northern  and  southern  parts  of  Carolina 
came  to  have  different  habits  and  interests,  even 
before  they  were  separated  into  two  distinct  colonies. 

At  one  time,  when  Spain  and  England  were  at  war, 
the  province  of  Carolina  was  drawn  into  hostilities 
with  the  Spanish  settlements  in  Florida.  The  colonists 
sent  an  armed  expedition  against  St.  Augustine ;  and, 
in  return,  the  Spaniards  excited  the  Indians  against 
the  colonists.  Both  portions  of  Carolina  had  much 
trouble  from  these  Indians,  especially  from  the  tribe 
of  Tuscaroras,  who  were  at  last  conquered,  and  had  to 


GEORGIA.  127 

emigrate  to  New  York,  where  they  joined  the  Five 
Nations,  in  1722.  During  the  French  and  Indian  wars, 
the  French  attacked  Carolina  from  Havana  ;  and  the 
colonists  were  much  harmed  by  these  various  enemies. 
They  were  also  very  much  dissatisfied  with  the  govern 
ment  of  the  English  proprietors  of  the  soil ;  and  at 
last  they  rebelled,  imprisoned  the  secretary  of  the 
province,  and  banished  the  governor.  Finally  they 
petitioned  the  king  of  England  to  buy  out  the  pro 
prietors,  and  make  two  royal  provinces  of  the  whole. 
This  was  done  in  1729,  after  which  North  and  South 
Carolina  were  permanently  separated.  Each  province 
had  a  royal  governor,  with  an  assembly  chosen  by  the 
people.  As  time  went  on,  these  royal  governors  be 
came  almost  as  unpopular  as  those  whom  the  proprie 
tors  had  before  appointed.  So  the  desire  for  self- 
government  grew  stronger  and  stronger  among  the 
people,  down  to  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution. 

GEORGIA. 

The  colony  of  Georgia  was  founded  by  a  very  re 
markable  man,  Gen.  James  Ogiethorpe.  He  became 
an  officer  in  the  British  army  when  very  young,  and 
was  a  great  favorite  with  every  one,  on  account  of  his 
courage,  fine  manners,  and  good  looks.  After  a  time 
he  volunteered  for  duty  in  the  army  of  Prince  Eugene 
of  Savoy,  who  was  then  fighting  against  the  Turks. 
After  distinguishing  himself  at  the  siege  of  Belgrade, 
Ogiethorpe  returned  to  England,  and  became  a  mem 
ber  of  parliament.  While  in  that  position  he  was 
particularly  interested  in  the  condition  of  the  poor 


128  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

debtors  in  England,  who  were  then  cruelly  treated. 
This  led  him  to  plan  a  colony,  to  be  established  in 
America,  whither  all  who  were  poor  and 'unfortunate 
might  come,  and  all  who  were  persecuted  for  their  reli 
gion.  So  he  applied  to  King  George  II.  for  lands  to 
be  thus  used  ;  and  the  king  gave  him  a  large  tract  be 
tween  Carolina  and  Florida.  It  was  quite  large  enough 
indeed;  for  it  was  supposed  to  reach  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  But,  as  it  had  been  claimed  by  both  the  Eng 
lish  and  Spanish,  there  was  some  doubt  about  the  title 
to  it ;  and  this  doubt  led  to  much  trouble  afterwards. 
However,  Oglethorpe  fitted  out  a  colony  to  his  new 
possessions,  in  1733,  and  went  himself  as  their  gov 
ernor.  The  colony  was  named  Georgia,  after  the  king. 
The  land  was  given  to  Oglethorpe  and  his  associates 
"  in  trust  for  the  poor ; "  and  the  seal  of  the  colony 
represented  a  family  of  silkworms  with  a  Latin  motto, 
meaning,  "  Not  for  themselves,  but  for  others." 

When  Oglethorpe  first  arrived  in  the  wilderness,  he 
pitched  his  tent  under  four  large  pine-trees,  where  now 
Savannah  stands.  This  tent  was  for  a  year  his  only 
abode.  He  had  a  royal  title  to  the  land  ;  but  he  took 
care  to  pay  the  Indians  of  that  region  for  it,  and  they 
were  always  friendly  to  him.  Some  of  the  chiefs 
presented  to  him  a  buffalo-skin,  with  the  head  and 
feathers  of  an  eagle  painted  on  the  inner  side.  They 
said,  "  The  feathers  of  the  eagle  are '  soft,  signifying 
love  j  the  skin  is  warm,  and  is  the  emblem  of  protec 
tion  :  therefore  love  and  protect  our  little  families." 
Oglethorpe  always  acted  on  this  request ;  and  he  was 
not  only  a  friend  to  the  Indians,  but  also  to  the 
negroes  ;  and,  though  slavery  existed  in  the  neighboring 


GEORGIA. 


I29 


colony  of  South  Carolina,  he  would  not  have  it  intro 
duced  into  Georgia.  He  said,  that,  if  slaves  were  to  be 
introduced  into  Georgia,  he  could  "  have  no  further 
concern  with  the  colony."  He  also  forbade  the  im 
portation  of  rum  ;  and  it  was  not  allowed  until  after  his 
departure.  -*^ 

Many  of  the  settlers  in  Georgia  were  Moravians,  a 
persecuted  sect  of  Christians  from  Austria.  Some 
celebrated  English  preachers  came  out  to  visit  these 
people,  —  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  the  founders  of  the 
great  Methodist  denomination  ;  and  George  Whitefield, 
who  founded  an  "  Orphan  House  "  at  Savannah,  and 
supported  it  with  sums  of  money  gained  by  his  preach 
ing.  But  Whitefield  was  not  so  consistent  as  Ogle- 
thorpe  in  one  respect ;  for  Whitefield  was  in  favor  of 
slavery,  and  it  was  by  his  influence  that  it  was  intro 
duced  into  Georgia  at  last,  after  Oglethorpe's  departure. 
The  Wesleys,  on  the  other  hand,  called  slavery  "the 
sum  of  all  villanies." 

After  a  time,  when  there  was  war  between  Spain  and 
England,  Georgia,  like  Carolina,  was  led  into  hostilities 
with  the  Spanish  colony  of  Florida.  Oglethorpe  was 
made  commander  of  the  whole  colonial  force  of  a  thou 
sand  white  men  and  some  Indians,  and  made  an  attack 
on  St.  Augustine  in  1740.  This  failed  ;  and  he  after 
wards  had  to  defend  his  own  colony  against  an  attack 
of  the  Spaniards.  They  came  with  three  thousand  men, 
and  landed  on  St.  Simon's  Island,  where  they  were  at 
last  utterly  defeated.  Soon  after  this,  Oglethorpe  left 
the  colony  for  England.  The  other  trustees,  who  had 
been  appointed  by  the  king,  were  in  many  respects 
unpopular.  Some  of  their  laws  were  very  vexatious  : 
9 


130  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

as,  for  instance,  that  which  limited  the  size  of  a  man's 
farm,  and  that  which  prohibited  women  from  inheriting 
land.  After  a  while  there  were  so  many  complaints 
that  they  gave  up  their  charter  ;  and  Georgia  became 
a  royal  province.  The  king  appointed  most  of  the 
officers,  though  there  was  an  Assembly  of  the  people. 
General  Oglethorpe  never  came  back  to  America,  but 
was  always  a  warm  friend  to  it.  He  lived  to  be  a  very 
old  man,  and  was  distinguished,  when  almost  ninety,  by 
his  personal  eloquence  and  courtesy.  He  was  one  of 
the  best  and  noblest  men  ever  connected  with  the 
settlement  of  America. 

Besides  the  Moravian  settlement,  there  was  a  High 
land  settlement,  of  Scotch  Highlanders,  in  Georgia, 
whose  affection  Oglethorpe  had  first  won  by  wearing 
the  Highland  dress  when  he  went  to  visit  them.  These 
Highlanders,  like  the  Moravians,  took  a  good  deal  of 
pains  about  the  education  of  their  children, — a  thing 
much  neglected  in  the  rest  of  the  colony.  The  people 
cleared  the  forests,  and  occupied  themselves  in  agricul 
ture,  with  the  aid  of  their  slaves.  Great  pains  were 
taken  by  the  English  Government  to  encourage  the 
manufacture  of  silk,  and,  for  a  time,  it  flourished. 
Persons  skilled  in  the  rearing  of  the  worms,  and  the 
winding  of  the  silk,  were  sent  out  from  England  ;  and 
this  industry  was  continued  in  Georgia  down  to  the 
time  of  the  Revolution.  General  Oglethorpe  took  to 
England  the  first  silk  that  was  produced ;  and  the 
queen  had  a  dress  made  of  it.  Georgia  never  was 
thickly  settled,  and  was  the  youngest  and  weakest  of 
the  colonies  at  the  time  when  the  great  war  broke 
out  that  separated  them  from  the  mother-country,  and 
united  them  all  into  a  nation. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE    INDIAN   WARS. 

SOON  after  the  Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock, 
they  saw  a  few  Indians,  who  ran  away.  But,  in  the 
following  spring,  an  Indian  came  boldly  among  them, 
one  day,  saying,  "  Welcome,  Englishmen  !  "  This  sur 
prised  them  very  much ;  for  they  did  not  know  how  the 
stranger  could  have  learned  the  English  language.  It 
turned  out  that  his  name  was  Samoset,  and  that  he 
lived  farther  east,  along  the  coast,  and  had  known  the 
English  fishermen.  Many  Indians  had  made  acquaint 
ance  with  Europeans  in  this  way,  and  had  sometimes 
been  treated  badly ;  so  that  they  were  not  all  as  confid 
ing  as  Samoset.  He  remained  one  night  with  the  set 
tlers  ;  and,  when  he  went  away,  they  gave  him  a  knife, 
a  bracelet,  and  a  ring ;  and  he  promised  to  return  soon, 
and  bring  other  Indians  with  beaver-skins  for  sale.  Ere 
long  he  returned,  and  made  the  Englishmen  acquainted 
with  a  chief,  called  Massasoit,  who  ruled  more  men  than 
any  one  in  that  region.  He  soon  made  a  treaty  with 
the  colonists  in  behalf  of  his  tribe ;  and  this  treaty 
lasted  more  than  fifty  years.  Massasoit  was  the 
sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,  a  tribe  that  had  been 
very  important,  though  it  had  just  been  greatly  reduced 


132  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

by  disease  ;  and  his  friendship  was  of  the  greatest  value 
to  the  Pilgrims. 

Once  the  Pilgrims  sent  an  expedition  to  Massasoit's 
lodge  to  visit  him.  The  messengers  carried  "  a  horse 
man's  coat  of  red  cotton  "  for  the  king,  and  beads  and 
jack-knives  for  his  chiefs  ;  and  Massasoit  put  on  his  red 
coat,  and  treated  them  kindly.  At  another  time,  when 


WELCOME,    ENGLISHMEN  ! 


a  friendly  Indian,  named  Squanto,  was  said  to  have 
been  killed  by  the  Narragansetts,  a  party  of  ten  colo 
nists  marched  into  the  forest,  and  surrounded  the  hut 
where  the  chief  of  this  tribe  was ;  and,  though  he  had 
five  thousand  fighting  men  at  his  command,  they  com 
pelled  him  to  leave  Squanto  unhurt.  The  Indians  had 
not  yet  learned  the  use  of  fire-arms ;  and  their  arrows 


THE    INDIAN    WARS.  133 

did  not  put  them  on  an  equality  with  the  well-armed 
Englishmen.  Afterwards  the  chief  of  the  Narragan- 
setts  sent  to  Governor  Bradford  a  bundle  of  arrows 
wrapped  in  the  skin  of  a  rattlesnake.  The  governor 
stuffed  the  skin  with  powder  and  shot,  and  sent  it 
back ;  and  the  Indians  were  afraid  to  keep  it,  and 
threatened  no  more.  But  the  Pilgrims  paid  for  all 
they  obtained  from  the  natives  ;.and,  when  they  finally 
went  to  war,  it  was  to  defend  another  colony,  which 
had  treated  the  Indians  badly.  In  this  war,  under 
Capt.  Miles  Standish's  orders,  several  Indians  were 
killed  ;  and  this  caused  great  regret  to  good  Mr.  Rob 
inson,  the  pastor  whom  the  Pilgrim  congregation  had 
left  behind  at  Leyden.  "  I  would  you  had  converted 
some,"  said  he,  "  before  you  had  killed  any." 

Both  in  the  Plymouth  and  the  Massachusetts  Col 
onies,  it  was  the  rule  that  no  one  should  take  any 
thing  from  the  Indians  without  paying  for  it.  The  year 
after  the  Massachusetts  Colony  was  founded  (1631), 
the  court  decreed  thus,  in  the  quaint  spelling  of  those 
days :  "  It  is  ordered,  that  Josias  Plastowe  shall  (for 
stealing  four  baskets  of  corne  from  the  Indians) 
returne  them  eight  baskets  againe,  be  fined  five  pounds, 
and  hereafter  be  called  by  the  name  of  Josias  &  not 
Mr.  as  formerly  he  used  to  be."  This  shows  how 
carefully  they  tried  to  do  justice  ;  though  it  is  very 
likely  that  there  was  often  occasion  for  such  punish 
ments  as  this.  Large  tracts  of  land  were  often  ob 
tained  for  a  blanket  or  a  knife;  and,  though  this 
bargain  would  now  seem  to  us  very  unfair,  yet  we  must 
remember  that  the  knife  or  the  blanket  might  often  be 
of  more  value  to  the  Indian  than  a  dozen  square  miles 


134  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

of  forest  land,  especially  as  there  was  a  whole  conti 
nent  left  for  him  to  occupy.  It  was  only  when  settlers 
multiplied,  that  land  began  to  have  any  of  the  value 
that  it  now  possesses.  &* 

The  first  Connecticut  settlers  had  fiercer  tribes  to 
deal  with  than  the  Pilgrims ;  and  they  had  very  early  a 
war  with  the  Pequots,  in  which  all  the  New  England 
colonists  were  involved.  It  would  have  been  much 
more  serious  than  it  was,  but  that  Roger  Williams 
used  his  influence  over  the  Narragansett  tribe  to  keep 
them  from  joining  the  war.  A  council  of  the  Indians 
was  being  held  ;  and  Roger  Williams,  in  order  to  save 
the  very  men  who  had  banished  him  from  Massachu 
setts,  went  many  miles  in  a  canoe  in  a  severe  storm. 
The  Pequots  were  enraged  with  Williams  for  inter 
fering  ;  but,  after  four  days  of  delay,  the  Narragansetts 
refused  their  aid.  The  Pequots  kept  up  constant  at 
tacks  upon  the  Connecticut  settlers;  and  at  last  an 
expedition  was  sent  against  them  (in  1637),  consisting 
of  ninety  white  men  and  several  hundred  Indian  allies, 
under  command  of  Capt.  John  Mason.  Their  object  of 
attack  was  the  chief  fort  of  the  Pequots,  which  lay  near 
what  is  now  Stonington,  Conn.  The  fort  covered  more 
than  an  acre,  which  was  enclosed  by  trunks  of  trees, 
about  twelve  feet  high,  set  firmly  in  the  ground,  close 
together.  Within  these  were  some  seventy  wigwams, 
covered  with  matting  and  thatch,  and  arranged  in  two 
lanes.  There  were  two  entrances ;  and  Captain  Mason 
stationed  himself  at  one  of  these,  and  the  next  in  com 
mand,  Captain  Underbill,  at  the  other,  each  having  a 
portion  of  the  colonists  with  him,  while  the  Indian  allies 
were  arranged  outside.  As  they  were  taking  their  posi- 


THE    INDIAN    WARS. 


'35 


tions,  a  dog  barked,  and  they  heard  the  cry  from  within, 
"Owanux,  Owanux !"   ("Englishmen,  Englishmen!") 


CAPTAIN  UNDERBILL'S  PICTURE  OF  THE  FIGHT. 

Then  the  attack  began.  The  roofs  of  the  Indian  cabins 
were  set  on  fire,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Indians 
were  killed ;  while  only  two  white  men  were  slain, 


136  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

many,  however,  being  wounded.  It  was  the  first  great 
blow  inflicted  by  the  whites  on  the  Indians  ;  and,  for 
forty  years  after  it,  there  was  much  more  peace  between 
the  two  races  in  New  England.^ 

It  is  pleasant  to  know,  that,  while  this  fighting  was 
going  on,  there  were  men  among  the  Puritans  who 
were  trying  to  do  good  to  the  Indians,  and  to  secure 
peace  in  a  gentler  way.  One  of  the  most  eminent  of 
the  Massachusetts  clergymen,  Rev.  John  Eliot,  "  the 
apostle  Eliot,"  as  he  was  called,  devoted  himself  to 
learning  their  habits  and  language,  and  to  making  for 
them  a  translation  of  the  Bible.  This  translation  was 
printed  at  Cambridge  ;  and  part  of  the  type  was  set 
by  an  Indian  compositor.  Eliot  gathered  those  who 
became  Christians  into  a  town  at  Natick,  Mass.  Other 
good  men  imitated  him,  such  as  the  Mayhews,  Cotton, 
Brainerd,  and  others ;  and  at  last  there  were  thirty 
churches  of  "  praying  Indians "  as  they  were  called, 
under  native  preachers.  Similar  churches  had  been 
established  in  Canada  by  the  French  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries.  Once,  during  the  time  when  there  was 
bitter  hostility  between  the  English  and  French  settlers, 
a  Jesuit  missionary,  named  Dreuillettes,  came  to  the 
Massachusetts  Colony  on  an  embassy,  to  try  to  make  a 
league  with  the  English  settlers  against  the  Mohawks. 
It  was  a  time  when  Jesuits  were  forbidden,  on  pain  of 
death,  from  coming  to  Massachusetts  ;  but  this  mission 
ary  came,  and  was  kindly  received  by  Eliot,  whom  he 
calls  "  Maistre  Heliot,"  and  who  invited  the  supposed 
Jesuit  to  pass  the  winter  with  him.  There  wrere  so 
many  quarrels  between  the  French  and  the  English  in 
those  early  days,  and  between  the  Roman  Catholics  and 


THE    INDIAN   WARS. 


'37 


Protestants,  that  it  is  pleasant  to  see  any  instances  of 
harmony  and  toleration. 

The  severest  of  the  early  Indian  wars  broke  out  in 
1675,  and  was  called  "  King  Philip's  War."  King  Philip 
was  the  son  of  Massasoit,  the  firm  friend  of  the  whites, 
and  he  ruled  over  the  Wampanoags.  His  chief  res 
idence  was  at  Mount  Hope,  nearly  opposite  what  is 
now  called  Fall  River,  Mass. 
That  peninsula  had  been  re 
served  for  the  tribe,  when  the 
rest  of  their  lands  were  sold. 
Philip  was  a  brave  and  thought 
ful  man.  He  saw  that  the 
white  settlements  were  grad 
ually  increasing,  and  that  the 
Indians  were  being  confined 
to  a  smaller  and  smaller  space  ; 
and  he  resolved  to  unite  the 
tribes  in  a  desperate  effort  to 
drive  the  English  from  the 
soil.  He  went  from  tribe  to 
tribe,  all  the  way  from  Maine 
to  Connecticut,  and  almost 
every  tribe  joined  the  league,  even  the  friendly  Nar- 
ragansetts,  whose  chief,  Miantonomi,  had  been  slain 
through  the  treachery  of  some  whites.  Philip  had  laid 
his  plans  so  well,  that  the  war  broke  out  along  a  line  of 
two  hundred  miles,  within  three  weeks.  It  was  pecu 
liarly  severe  in  Western  Massachusetts,  where  town  after 
town  was  burned.  Tradition  says,  that  in  one  village, 
Hadley,  when  it  was  attacked  by  the  Indians,  and  the 
settlers  were  all  irresolute  for  want  of  a  leader,  a  ven- 


K1NG    PHILIP. 


138  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

erable  man,  unknown  to  all,  appeared  suddenly  in  the 
streets,  took  command  of  the  people,  gave  military 
orders  that  led  to  the  defeat  of  the  Indians,  and  then 
disappeared  as  suddenly  as  he  came.  It  was  afterwards 
supposed  that  this  mysterious  person  was  William  Goffe, 
who  had  been  a  general  in  Cromwell's  army,  and  had 
been  compelled  to  flee  from  England  as  a  "  regicide  " 
for  having  been  one  of  the  judges  who  sentenced 
Charles  I.  to  death.  Goffe,  and  his  companion  Whalley, 
were  long  in  concealment  among  the  forests  and  caves 
of  Connecticut.  This  sudden  appearance  at  Kadley  is 
described  in  Hawthorne's  story  of  "  The  Gray  Cham 
pion,"  though  he  has  changed  the  time  and  place  of 
the  event. 

To  break  the  power  of  the  Indian  league,  an  expedi 
tion  of  a  thousand  men,  under  Captain  Winslow,  was 
sent  against  the  Narragansetts  in  Rhode  Island.  In 
the  depth  of  winter,  the  colonists  made  their  way  to 
the  Narragansett  town.  It  was  in  a  swamp,  surrounded 
by  palisades.  At  last,  after  two  hours'  fighting,  the 
attacking-party  entered  the  fort ;  and  the  tribe  was 
almost  wholly  exterminated.  Still  Philip  kept  in  the 
field,  and  is  said  to  have  slain  one  of  his  warriors  for 
proposing  peace.  In  1676  a  strong  Puritan  force  was 
sent  against  him,  under  Captain  Church  ;  and  they  cap 
tured  his  wife  and  child.  "  My  heart  breaks/'  said 
King  Philip  :  "  now  I  am  ready  to  die."  The  child  was 
a  boy  of  nine,  and  was  the  last  of  the  race  of  Massa- 
soit.  The  Puritans,  who  had  owed  so  much  to  the 
grandfather,  sold  the  child  as  a  slave  to  Bermuda. 
Soon  after  this,  King  Philip  was  hunted  down  and 
killed ;  and  so  ended  a  war  that  had  lasted  two  years, 


THE    INDIAN    WARS.  139 

and  had  cost,  as  was  estimated,  six  hundred  lives. 
Twelve  or  thirteen  towns  had  been  entirely  destroyed  ; 
and  it  was  estimated  that  one  family  in  every  eleven 
had  been  burned  out,  and  that  every  eleventh  soldier 
had  fallen.  jf& 

While  these  Indian  wars  were  going  on  in  New  Eng 
land,  other  colonies  had  similar  troubles.  The  Dutch 
in  New  Amsterdam  committed  cruel  outrages  on  the 
Indians,  and  suffered  severely  in  return.  In  Virginia 
the  Indians  attacked  the  remoter  villages ;  and  the 
English  Government  would  not  let  the  settlers  have 
arms  for  their  own  defence.  This  led  to  a  sort  of 
rebellion ;  and  a  brave  man  named  Nathaniel  Bacon 
procured  a  supply  of  arms,  and  organized  a  force  to 
fight  the  Indians.  Then  Governor  Berkeley  tried  to 
put  him  down  ;  and  Bacon  took  the  city  of  Jamestown, 
and  burned  it  in  revenge,  beginning  with  his  own  house, 
and  destroying  the  whole  town  so  thoroughly,  that 
scarcely  a  vestige  of  it  now  remains.  Soon  after  this, 
Bacon  died  ;  but  there  was  more  peace  with  the 
Indians  in  Virginia  for  many  years  after  this. 

The  colony  that  had  least  trouble  with  the  Indians 
in  early  days  was  Pennsylvania.  This  was  partly  the 
result  of  the  wise  and  righteous  course  pursued  by 
William  Penn,  the  founder.  He  made  a  treaty,  in  the 
very  year  of  his  arrival  (1682),  with  the  Delawares  and 
other  tribes.  Standing  under  a  great  elm-tree  at 
Shackamaxon,  on  the  northern  edge  of  Philadelphia, 
he  told  the  Indians  how  he  meant  to  treat  them.  He 
said  to  them,  "  I  will  not  call  you  children,  for  parents 
sometimes  chide  their  children  too  severely ;  nor  bro 
thers  only,  for  brothers  differ.  The  friendship  between 


140  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 

you  and  me  I  will  not  compare  to  a  chain ;  for  that  the 
rains  might  rust,  or  the  falling  tree  might  break.  We 
are  the  same  as  if  one  man's  body  were  to  be  divided 
into  two  parts :  we  are  all  one  flesh  and  blood."  To 
this  the  Indians  replied,  "We  will  live  in  love  with 
William  Penn  and  his  children  as  long  as  the  sun  and 
moon  shall  endure."  And  they  fulfilled  this  treaty. 
Pennsylvania  is  said  to  have  been  the  only  colony 
where  the  evidence  of  an  Indian  was  taken  in  court 
against  that  of  a  white  man ;  and  the  Indians  proved 
themselves  worthy  of  this  just  treatment. 

The  Society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  in  New  Jersey, 
showed  the  same  generous  and  just  conduct  toward 
the  Indians ;  and  the  Indians  treated  them  equally  well. 
"  You  are  brothers,"  said  the  sachem ;  "  and  we  will 
live  like  brothers  with  you.  We  will  have  a  broad  path 
for  you  and  us  to  walk  in.  If  an  Englishman  falls 
asleep  in  this  path,  the  Indian  shall  pass  him  by,  and 
say,  '  He  is  an  Englishman,  he  is  asleep :  let  him 
alone.'  " 

It  is  often  said  that  not  a  drop  of  Quaker  blood  was 
ever  shed  by  an  Indian  ;  and,  though  this  is  not  quite 
true,  yet  it  is  true  that  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey 
suffered  much  less  than  most  of  the  other  colonies. 
This  was  partly  due  to  William  Penn's  policy  ;  but  it 
is  also  to  be  remembered  that  the  Indians  on  whose 
territory  the  Quaker  colonists  settled  were  a  peaceful 
and  humble  tribe  (the  Delawares),  who  had  been 
conquered  by  the  Iroquois.  It  is  not  certain  that  it 
would  have  been  as  easy  to  keep  the  peace  with  the 
fierce  tribes  that  then  inhabited  New  England  and 
New  York.  But  Penn's  treaty  with  the  Indians  has 


THE    INDIAN    WARS.  141 

always  been  very  famous  ;  and  the  great  elm-tree  under 
which  it  was  made  was  so  well  known,  that  almost  a 
century  afterwards,  when  the  American  colonies  were 
fighting  for  their  independence,  the  commander  of  an 
English  army  placed  a  sentinel  under  that  tree  to  pro 
tect  it  from  his  soldiers,  who  were  cutting  down  all  the 
surrounding  trees  for  fuel.  It  stood  safely  until  within 
a  few  years,  when  it  was  blown  down. 

The  successors  of  William  Penn  did  not  always 
continue  his  generous  treatment  of  the  Indians.  For 
instance,  there  was  a  celebrated  purchase  of  land, 
called  the  "  Walking  Purchase."  The  proprietors  of 
the  soil  had  a  deed  from  the  Indians,  granting  them  as 
much  land  in  a  certain  direction  as  a  man  could  walk 
over  in  a  day  and  a  half.  Of  course,  it  was  supposed 
that  the  walking  would  be  done  by  an  ordinary  man  in 
an  ordinary  way.  Instead  of  this,  the  proprietors  laid 
out  a  smooth  road  for  the  whole  distance ;  then  chose 
the  most  active  men  they  could  anywhere  find,  and  put 
them  in  training  for  the  walk.  Thus  they  included  a 
great  distance  in  the  land  walked  over,  and  then 
required  the  Indians  to  remove  from  it.  The  Dela- 
wares  objected ;  and  then  the  more  powerful  Iroquois, 
their  previous  conquerors,  were  called  in  by  the  Eng 
lish,  and  forcibly  drove  the  Delawares  from  the  lands. 
William  Penn  certainly  would  not  have  approved  of  this 
mode  of  dealing.  However,  the  Pennsylvania  colo 
nists  always  suffered  less  from  the  Indians  than  did 
almost  any  other  colony,  down  to  the  terrible  period  of 
the  "  French  and  Indian  wars." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   FRENCH   AND    INDIAN   WARS. 

THE  terrible  "  French  and  Indian  wars/'  in  which 
all  the  colonies  were  more  or  less  involved,  took 
place  in  this  way.  As  the  white  settlements  increased, 
the  native  tribes  steadily  diminished  ;  so  that  by  1675, 
when  there  were  fifty-five  thousand  whites  in  New  Eng 
land,  there  were  but  some  thirty  thousand  Indians. 
The  Indians'  lands  had  been  bought  by  the  new-comers, 
or  obtained  by  treaty,  or  seized  after  war,  till  they  were 
reduced  to  mere  strips  of  territory  here  and  there. 
Then  the  white  men  were  much  better  armed,  even 
after  the  natives  had  learned  the  use  of  fire-arms.  So 
the  Indians  could  not  cope  with  the  English  without 
some  aid ;  and,  unhappily,  the  French  settlers  in 
Canada  were  very  willing  to  render  this  aid.  For  the 
French  had  been  the  first  explorers  of  the  interior 
regions  of  the  continent.  They  had  gone  from  Canada, 
along  the  Great  Lakes,  and  down  the  Illinois  and  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  Rivers  ;  and  they  wished  to  keep  the 
English  out  of  all  that  region,  and  not  even  to  let  them 
trade  with  the  Indians.//  Moreover,  the  French  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries  had  converted  many  of  the 
Indians  to  their  form  of  Christianity  ;  and  these  con 
verts  naturally  took  the  part  of  their  priests  against  the 
142 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WARS.  143 

English  settlers,  who  were  almost  all  Protestants.  > 
Besides  all  this,  the  French  had  treated  the  Indians  ' 
with  more  consideration  than  the  English  had  showed. 
The  French  had  adopted  the  Indian  ways  when  among 
them  ;  and  many  had  even  married  Indian  wives :  so 
it  was  natural  that  the  native  tribes  should  have  more 
liking  for  the  French.  Yet  some  of  the  shrewder  men 
among  them  did  not  love  either  of  these  nations  of 
foreigners.  One  of  them  said  to  an  English  visitor, 
"  You  and  the  French  are  like  the  two  edges  of  a  pair 
of  shears ;  and  we  are  the  cloth  which  is  cut  to  pieces 
between  you."// 

All  this  led  to  a  series  of  wars  which  were  far  worse 
than  the  early  Indian  wars,  because  the  French  sup 
plied  the  native  tribes  with  much  better  weapons  than 
they  had  before  used,  and  taught  them  how  to  build 
forts  in  a  stronger  way.  These  wars  were  called  by 
different  names  \  as,  King  William's  War  (1689),  Queen 
Anne's  War  (1702),  King  George's  War  (1744),  and, 
finally,  "The  Old  French  and  Indian  War"  (1755  to 
1763).  This  last  was  the  most  important ;  but  the  whole 
series  made  really  one  long  war,  sometimes  pausing, 
and  then  beginning  again,  the  object  being  to  decide 
whether  the  French  or  the  English  should  control  the 
continent.  -~ 

In  these  wars  the  Indians  rarely  met  the  whites  in 
open  field,  but  trusted  rather  to  sudden  surprises,  night- 
attacks,  and  swift  marches.  The  chief  terrors  came 
upon  lonely  families  and  small  villages.  When  the 
inhabitants  were  asleep,  they  were  liable  to  be  awak 
ened  by  the  sound  of  the  Indian  war-whoop,  or  the 
glare  of  houses  in  flames.  Then  the  men  must  get 


144  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

down  their  loaded  muskets ;  and  the  women  must  take 
the  bullet-moulds,  and  begin  melting  lead  to  make 
bullets  ;  or  must  load  the  guns  as  fast  as  they  were 
fired.  Sometimes,  when  the  lead  was  gone,  they  picked 
the  bullets  of  the  Indians  from  the  walls  where  they 
had  struck,  or  spread  blankets  to  collect  them  as  they 
rattled  against  the  chimney,  and  fell.  Or  they  watched 
their  opportunity  to  flee  to  the  "  block-house,"  or  "  gar 
rison-house,"  that  was  often  placed  in  or  near  a  village. 
This  was  usually  a  small  wooden  fort  of  two  stones  ; 
the  lower  story  being  sunk  a  few  feet  into  the  ground, 
and  the  upper  projecting  a  few  feet  beyond  the  lower. 
The  first  story  was  made  of  squared  logs,  as  much  as  a 
foot  and  a  half  in  diameter,  though  smaller  logs  were 
used  above.  There  were  loop-holes  through  which 
guns  could  be  fired,  and  gratings  in  the  roof,  where 
smoke  could  escape.  Sometimes  these  block-houses 
were  held  for  many  days  against  the  Indians ;  since  the 
attacking-party  had  no  cannon,  and  could  not  approach 
near  enough  to  set  the  house  on  fire,  without  being 
shot  down.  J/j 

When  the  Indians  attacked  by -day,  they  selected 
houses  from  which  the  men  were  absent.  Thus  they 
approached  the  house  of  a  man  named  Thomas  Dus- 
ton  in  Haverhill,  Mass.  He  was  absent  in  the  fields, 
and  reached  the  house  too  late  to  defend  his  wife,  who 
was  ill  in  bed,  and  had  her  young  infant  with  her. 
He  collected  seven  of  his  children,  however,  and  sent 
them  running  along  the  road ;  then  seized  his  gun,  and 
mounted  his  horse,  with  the  intention  of  taking  up 
before  him  the  child  he  loved  best,  and  defending  the 
others  as  he  could.  But  he  could  not  possibly  decide 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WARS.  145 

which  child  to  take:  so  he  hurried  the  little  party 
along,  loading,  and  firing  at  the  Indians,  who  fired  in 
vain  at  him,  until  he  reached  a  place  of  safety  a  mile 
away.  Meanwhile  the  Indians  compelled  Mrs.  Duston 
to  go  with  them,  together  with  her  baby  and  nurse  and 
young  boy.  The  baby  was  soon  killed,  as  being  a 


DUSTON   SAVING    HIS   CHILDREN. 


hindrance  to  the  march  ;  but  the  others  were  led  for 
several  days  through  the  forest.  At  last,  when  they 
were  encamped  on  an  island  in  the  Merrimack  River, 
the  prisoners  discovered  that  they  were  to  be  put  to 
death  with  tortures  at  the  end  of  the  journey,  and 
resolved  to  save  themselves.  At  night,  when  their 
captors  were  asleep,  the  three  prisoners  killed  with 


146  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

tomahawks  ten  of  the  twelve  Indians,  and  escaped  to 
the  white  settlements. 

At  another  time  the  French  and  Indians  attacked 
the  'town  of  Deerfield,  in  the  western  part  of  Massa 
chusetts.  It  was  in  February,  1704.  The  attacking- 
party  came  down  on  snow-shoes  from  Canada,  for  the 
purpose.  It  consisted  of  both  French  and  Indians, 
and  was  commanded  by  Hertel  de  Rouville,  a  French 
leader,  who  was  a  great  terror  to  the  colonists  in  those 
days.  The  people  of  the  village  had  been  warned  of 
their  danger,  and  had  built  a  barricade  around  their 
houses,  and  kept  a  watch  every  night.  One  very  cold 
night  the  sentinel  went  to  sleep,  and  the  poor  people 
were  awakened  by  the  war-whoop.  The  marks  of 
tomahawks  are  still  to  be  seen  on  the  door  of  the  old 
parsonage  house,  which  was  attacked.  Rev.  John 
Williams,  who  lived  there,  was  captured  with  his  wife 
and  six  children ;  and  they  were  all  carried  away  to 
Canada,  with  nearly  a  hundred  others.  It  was  a 
terribly  cold  winter.  The  Indians  took  the  clothes 
from  some  of  the  captives ;  and  many  had  only  a 
blanket  apiece,  and  only  moccasons  on  their  feet. 
During  all  their  terrible  march,  they  had  scarcely  any 
food  except  ground-nuts  and  acorns.  Two  or  three 
times  only  they  had  dog's  flesh.  They  were  compelled 
to  walk  twenty  or  thirty  miles  a  day,  carrying  burdens 
for  their  new  masters.  Sometimes  the  children  were 
treated  kindly  by  the  Indians,  and  were  carried  in  their 
arms,  or  on  rude  sleds  for  the  purpose ;  but  in  other 
cases,  when  they  lagged  behind,  they  were  killed  with 
tomahawks.  Mrs.  Williams,  the  minister's  wife,  was 
also  killed  in  this  way.  When  the  survivors  reached 


THE    FRENCH   AND   INDIAN   WARS.  147 

Canada,  they  were  sold  to  the  French  as  slaves,  and 
were  treated  with  a  good  deal  of  kindness  by  them ; 
and  Mr.  Williams  was  redeemed,  and  brought  back. 
He  lived  to  write  an  account  of  his  adventures,  under 
the  name  of  "  The  Redeemed  Captive."  All  his  chil 
dren  were  brought  back  with  him,  except  one  little 
girl,  who  had  been  adopted  into  a  family  of  Christian 
Indians,  and  was  not  allowed  to  leave  them.  She  grew 
up,  and  married  a  chief,  and  returned  to  Deerfield 
several  times,  but  would  not  remain  ;  preferring  to  go 
back  to  her  Canadian  wigwam  and  her  children. 

We  can  easily  imagine  how  the  colonists  felt  toward 
the  Indians,  when  such  tales  as  these  were  talked  over 
by  the  open  fireside,  in  many  a  lonely  farm-house, 
where  the  children  lay  awake  afterwards,  listening  for 
the  Indian's  war-whoop.  And  they  felt  quite  as 
bitterly  towards  the  French  missionaries  in  Canada, 
who  were  supposed  to  encourage  the  Indians  in  their 
attacks.  Yet  these  French  missionaries  often  showed 
humanity  to  the  captives ;  and,  indeed,  some  tribes, 
under  their  influence,  ceased  to  torture  their  prisoners. 
These  Indian  wars  were  the  greatest  possible  inter 
ruption  to  all  other  pursuits ;  for  there  were  times 
when  one-fifth  of  all  those  capable  of  fighting  had  to 
be  absent  from  their  homes.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
colonists  became  almost  desperate  ;  so  that  they  offered 
rewards  for  every  Indian  killed,  —  from  five  to  fifty 
pounds. 

It  was  very  important  to  the  colonists  that  the  English 
Government  should  send  expeditions  against  the  French 
in  Canada,  to  keep  them  busy  in  defending  themselves. 
The  colonists  were  always  ready  to  take  part  in  these 


I48 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


expeditions,  and  sometimes  led  them.  For  instance,  a 
party  was  fitted  out  from  Marblehead,  Mass.,  under  com 
mand  of  Gen.  William  Pepperrell,  to  attack  the  French 
fortress  of  Louisburg,  on  Cape  Breton.  This  was  the 
most  important  military  enterprise  that  the  colonists 
had  yet  undertaken.  It  was  fitted  out  by  the  Massachu 
setts  Colony  ;  the  men  be 
ing  from  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Con 
necticut.  Four  thousand 
men  took  part,  leaving  their 
wives  and  children  to  plant 
their  fields  while  they  were 
gone.  Louisburg  was  the 
strongest  fortress  on  the 
American  continent,  —  so 
strong,  that  it  was  called 
"The  Gibraltar  of  North  America."  The  attacking- 
party  had  but  twenty-one  field-pieces,  and  there  were  a 
hundred  and  seven  cannon  inside  the  fort ;  but,  after 
a  siege  of  fifty  days,  Louisburg  was  taken  from  the 
French.  This  was  in  1745. 

We  must  remember,  that,  at  this  time,  the  English 
colonies  only  occupied  a  strip  of  land  along  the 
Atlantic  coast,  though  this  strip  extended  for  a  thou 
sand  miles  ;  while  the  French  held  Canada  and  Nova 
Scotia,  and  claimed  all  the  vast  interior  region,  from 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Governor  of  New  York  wrote  home  to  England> 
that,  if  the  French  were  allowed  to  hold  all  that  they 
had  discovered,  the  kings  of  England  would  not 
"  have  a  hundred  miles  from  the  sea  anywhere."  Not 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WARS. 


I49 


only  did  the  French  claim  all  this ;  but  they  kept  busily 
at  work  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  establishing 
trading-posts,  building  forts,  making  boats  on  the  lakes, 
and  collecting  the  materials  of  war.  They  would  not 
let  the  English  make  so  much  as  a  survey  of  land  in 
the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  So  it  was  resolved  to  send  a 
messenger  to  remonstrate  with  the  French  officers  and 


WASHINGTON   AMID   THE  ICE   OF   THE   ALLEGHANY. 

agents  ;  and  George  Washington,  then  a  young  man  of 
twenty-one,  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Virginia 
for  that  purpose.  This  was  in  October,  1753. 

Washington  had  to  travel  through  the  almost  un 
broken  forest,  and  to  meet  many  perils  ;  and  he  accom 
plished  nothing  by  his  appeals.  His  return  was  in  the 
dead  of  winter,  and  harder  and  more  perilous  than  his 


150  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 

journey  westward.  Much  of  the  journey  was  through 
forests  which  no  white  man  had  ever  traversed  ;  and  he 
had  to  cross  rivers  on  the  ice,  or  else,  amidst  floating 
ice,  on  hastily  constructed  rafts.  Crossing  the  Alleghany 
River  in  this  way,  his  raft  was  entirely  hemmed  in  by  the 
ice,  his  "  setting-pole  "  was  whirled  from  his  hand  by  the 
swift  current,  and  he  himself  was  thrown  into  the  water. 
Finally  he  and  his  companion  left  the  raft,  and  took 
refuge  on  an  island  in  the  river,  where  they  staid  till 
daylight,  soaked  with  water,  and  almost  frozen.  In 
the  morning  they  succeeded  in  crossing  the  ice  to  the 
shore,  and  at  last  got  safely  home.  After  all  Wash 
ington's  efforts,  the  French  went  on  building  forts 
with  as  much  energy  as  ever,  till  they  finally  had  a 
chain  of  sixty,  stretching  from  Quebec  to  New  Orleans, 
and  securing  to  them,  as  they  thought,  all  the  interior 
of  the  continent. 

It  happened  very  fortunately  for  the  colonists  that 
the  powerful  Iroquois  tribes,  who  lived  west  of  the 
Hudson  River,  had  long  been  their  friends,  and  hostile 
to  the  French.  These  tribes  were  called  the  "  Five 
Nations :  "  they  were  the  Cayugas,  Mohawks,  Oneidas, 
Onondagas,  and  Senecas.  After  a  while  they  were 
joined  by  the  Tuscaroras,  and  were  called  the  "  Six 
Nations."  The  names  of  these  tribes  are  likely  to  be 
remembered,  because  some  lake  or  river  in  New  York 
is  named  after  each  of  them.  And  they  ought  to  be 
remembered  with  gratitude  ;  for  their  friendship  was  of 
great  importance  to  the  English  colonists.  In  1754 
the  English  Government  instructed  the  governor  of  the 
colonies  to  call  a  convention  of  delegates  at  Albany, 
to  make  a  treaty  with  these  "  Six  Nations,"  and  to 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WARS. 


'5* 


form  a  union  for  self-defence  against  the  French. 
There  had  been  several  attempts  at  such  union  before, 
but  without  much  success.  '  - 

Albany  was  then  a  little  Dutch  town  of  only  three 
hundred  houses,  protected  by  the  Hudson  River  on 
one  side,  and  by  a  line  of  picket-fence  on  the  other : 
it  had  also  a  stone  fort.  At  this  place  the  twenty-five 
delegates  from  the  different  colonies  met  a  hundred 
and  fifty  Indian  chiefs,  and  made  a  treaty  with  them, 
though  the  Indians  reproached  them  for  not  being  so 
warlike  as  the  French,  and  for  not  building  forts  every 
where  like  them.  Then  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin  pro 
posed  to  the  delegates  a  plan  of 
union.  Before  he  left  home,  he 
had  printed  in  his  newspaper  at 
Philadelphia  a  woodcut  repre 
senting  a  snake  cut  into  separate 
pieces  to  represent  the  colonies  ; 
each  piece  having  upon  it  the. 
initial  letter  of  the  name  of  some 
colony,  and  the  inscription  appearing  beneath,  "  Unite 
or  die."  This  design  was  afterwards  used  as  a  flag. 
Dr.  Franklin  told  the  convention  that  the  French,  being 
under  one  government,  were  much  more  powerful  than 
the  thirteen  English  separate  colonies,  all  jealous  of  one 
another.  Under  his  lead,  the  convention  agreed  upon 
a  plan  of  union  ;  but  the  colonies  afterwards  rejected 
it.  They  were  not  quite  ready  for  union  yet.  Still 
they  agreed  sufficiently  to  carry  on  the  Old  French 
War,  with  great  vigor  for  nine  years ;  and  it  ended  in 
accomplishing  all  they  desired. 

One  of  the  first  steps  in  this  war  was  a  very  cruel  act. 


152  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

There  was  a  French  province  called  Acadia,  now  Nova 
Scotia ;  and  this  was  occupied  by  the  English  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  in  1755.  The  French  inhabitants 
would  not  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  England ;  and 
so  the  New  England  soldiers  were  sent  by  the  English 
Government  to  remove  the  Acadians  from  their  coun 
try.  In  some  villages  the  men  were  all  summoned 
into  the  church  to  hear  a  royal  proclamation.  There 
they  found  themselves  prisoners ;  and  they  were  then 
marched  to  the  seashore.  Seven  thousand  people  were 
thus  sent  from  their  homes,  and  scattered  through  the 
colonies.  To  prevent  their  returning,  their  houses  were 
burned,  and  their  farms  laid  waste.  In  many  cases 
families  were  separated  in  the  confusion  of  embarking  ; 
and  members  of  the  same  family  were  long  lost  to 
one  another.  Longfellow's  poem  of  "  Evangeline  "  is 
founded  upon  this  sad  event. 

Meantime,  in  Virginia,  war  was  beginning  in  earnest. 
When  Washington  went  west  to  remonstrate  with  the 
French  officers,  he  selected  a  place  which  he  thought 
would  be  very  good  for  an  English  fort.  It  was  just 
where  Pittsburg  now  stands,  at  the  point  where  the 
Alleghany  and  Monongahela  unite  to  form  the  Ohio. 
The  government  sent  an  expedition,  and  began  to  build 
the  fort.  They  thought,  that,  as  there  were  so  many 
French  forts  in  that  region,  there  should  be  a  few  for 
the  English  also.  But  this  was  just  what  the  French 
did  not  wish  :  so  they  drove  the  workmen  away,  finished 
the  fort  themselves,  and  called  it  Fort  Du  Quesne. 
Washington  carried  on  war  against  the  French  and  Indi 
ans  for  a  time,  with  the  Virginia  soldiers  who  had  been 
placed  under  his  command:  but  he  was  not  quite 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WARS.  153 

strong  enough  to  attack  this  important  post;  and  so 
a  veteran  English  army  was  sent  out  under  General 
Braddock ;  and  Washington  went  with  him  as  one  of 
his  staff-officers.  The  English  general  knew  nothing 
about  Indian  warfare,  and  would  take  advice  from  no 
one.  He  marched  slowly  through  the  forests,  building 
roads  as  he  went,  and  spending  several  months  on  the 
way.  As  he  drew  near  the  fort,  Washington  urged  him 
to  place  the  American  companies  in  front,  for  the 
purpose  of  clearing  the  woods  of  Indians.  He  ex 
plained  that  these  provincial  soldiers  were  used  to 
dealing  with  Indians  ;  while  the  red-coats  were  only 
accustomed  to  regular  warfare,  and  to  fighting  in  the 
open  field.  Braddock  refused  to  listen  to  the  advice, 
but  marched  on  in  regular  military  order,  with  flags 
flying,  music  playing,  and  the  men  presenting  a  fine 
appearance.  The  army  was  within  seven  miles  of  the 
fort,  when  the  advanced  guard  was  attacked  by  Indians, 
in  a  deep  ravine,  and  was  thrown  into  complete  confu 
sion.  The  Virginia  riflemen  fought  from  behind  trees ; 
but  the  regular  troops  crowded  together,  and  were  shot 
down.  The  fight  lasted  three  hours.  It  ended  in  a  dis 
orderly  retreat  of  the  British  troops,  more  than  seven 
hundred  of  whom  were  killed  out  of  twelve  hundred. 
General  Braddock  showed  great  courage,  but  was  at 
last  mortally  wounded ;  and  every  one  of  his  officers 
was  killed  or  wounded,  except  Washington,  who  had 
two  horses  killed  under  him,  and  had  four  balls  through 
his  coat.  Washington  was  almost  prostrated  by  illness 
that  day,  but  took  an  active  part  in  the  battle,  and  had 
the  command  after  Braddock  fell.  An  old  Indian  chief 
said  afterwards,  that  he  and  his  "young  braves"  had 


154  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

fired  very  often  at  that  tall  young  American,  and  had 
decided  that  he  must  bear  a  charmed  life. 

Braddock's  defeat  took  place  July  9,  1755.  It  made 
the  greatest  excitement  throughout  the  colonies  and  in 
England ;  and  its  consequences  were  very  important. 
The  French  were  left  in  possession,  for  the  time,  of  all 
the  region  west  of  the  Alleghanies  ;  and  the  Indians 
began  to  despise  the  English,  to  reverence  the  French, 
and  to  make  new  attacks  upon  the  colonists.  All 
through  the  western  parts  of  Virginia,  especially,  there 
were  scenes  of  massacre  and  fire;  and  family  after 
family  had  to  flee  for  their  lives.  Washington,  who 
was  in  command  of  the  Virginia  forces,  wrote,  that 
"the  supplicating  tears  of  women,  and  the  moving 
petitions  of  the  men,  melted  him  with  deadly  sorrow." 
He  had  to  meet  swift  and  stealthy  enemies,  who  came 
and  went  in  the  night,  and  were  only  to  be  tracked  by 
the  ruin  they  had  left  behind  them. 

The  Indians  were  told  by  their  French  allies  that  the 
time  had  come  to  drive  the  English  forever  from  their 
settlements.  But  the  colonists  resisted  desperately; 
and,  three  years  after,  Washington  himself  was  sent 
against  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  took  it  at  last.  It  was 
this  distinguished  military  career  that  fitted  Washing 
ton  to  take  part  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  which 
was  fast  approaching.  Braddock's  defeat  had,  more 
over,  taught  the  colonists  that  the  red-coats  were  not 
invincible,  but  would  run  away  as  fast  as  anybody,  if 
met  by  greater  numbers  or  greater  skill. 
'  Several  important  forts  were  taken  from  the  French 
during  this  war,  such  as  Niagara,  Ticonderoga,  and 
Crown  Point ;  but  the  most  important  event  was  the 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WARS.  155 

famous  expedition  against  Quebec.  General  Wolfe  was 
sent  from  England  to  command  this  attack,  and  had 
eight  thousand  men  with  him ;  for  Quebec  was  one  of 
the  strongest  fortresses  in  the  world.  He  was  at  first 
repulsed  at  every  point.  At  last  he  discovered  a  steep 
and  narrow  path  which  led  up  to  the  Heights  of  Abra 
ham,  above  the  city ;  and  he  resolved  to  climb  it  with 
his  men.  So  he  sent  Captain  Cook  (afterwards  so 
famous  as  a  navigator)  to  make  a  pretended  attack  in 
another  place  ;  and  Wolfe  went  with  boats  to  this  path 
he  had  discovered.  As  he  was  rowed  along  in  his  boat, 
he  spoke  to  his  officers  of  Gray's  "  Elegy  in  a  Country 
Churchyard,"  and  said  that  he  would  rather  have  writ 
ten  that  poem  than  take  Quebec.  Then  he  repeated 
the  lines :  — 

"  The  boast  of  heraldry,  the  pomp  of  power, 

And  all  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth,  e'er  gave, 
Await  alike  the  inevitable  hour  : 

The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave." 

Then  they  landed,  climbed  the  steep ;  and,  in  the  morn 
ing  of  Sept.  13,  1759,  General  Montcalm,  the  French 
commander,  was  amazed  to  see  an  army  above  him.  If 
he  had  even  then  remained  in  his  fortress,  the  English 
could  not  have  taken  it ;  but  he  chose  to  come  out  and 
fight  them  on  the  open  ground,  and  was  defeated.  The 
English  were  victorious ;  but  General  Wolfe  died  in  the 
hour  of  victory.  Hearing  the  shouts,  "  They  fly  ;  they 
fly  !  "  he  asked,  "  Who  fly  ? "  Hearing  it  was  the  French, 
he  said,  "  Now  God  be  praised :  I  die  happy."  General 
Montcalm  was  also  mortally  wounded,  and,  when  told 
of  his  condition,  said,  "  So  much  the  better.  I  shall 
not  live  to  see  the  surrender  of  Quebec." 


156  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Quebec  was  surrendered  five  days  later ;  and  a  pe-«ce 
was  made  in  1763,  by  which  France  gave  up  Canada  to 
England,  with  all  her  American  possessions  east  of  xhe 
Mississippi,  except  some  fishing-stations  near  New 
foundland.  France  had  just  before  given  up  to  Spain 
all  her  claims  to  the  vast  territory  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  It  was  supposed  that  all  the  Indian  tribes 
would  at  once  submit  to  the  English  power,  and  would 
show  the  same  friendship  that  they  had  formerly 
shown  to  the  French.  But  unfortunately  the  Indians 
were  not  willing  to  submit  so  easily ;  and  the  flames  of 
battle  were  to  be  rekindled  once  more  before  the  great 
series  of  French  and  Indian  wars  ended. 

There  was  an  Indian  chief  named  Pontiac,  a  man 
of  great  courage,  skill,  and  influence.  He  had  led  the 
Ottawa  tribe  at  the  time  of  Braddock's  defeat,  and  had 
seen  the  red-coats  run  away  before  his  men.  He 
believed,  that,  if  the  Indian  tribes  could  be  united  for 
one  more  effort,  they  might  yet  expel  the  English  from 
the  interior  of  the  country,  at  least.  The  French 
inhabitants  of  Canada  secretly  encouraged  these 
thoughts,  and  told  the  Indians  that  the  King  of 
France  had  been  asleep  for  a  time,  and  that  the  Eng 
lish  had  therefore  triumphed,  but  that  he  would  soon 
wake  up,  and  "  drive  the  intruders  from  the  country  of 
his  red  children."  Pontiac  heard  all  this  eagerly.  "  I 
am  a  Frenchman,"  he  said,  "and  will  die  a  French 
man  ! "  He  sent  ambassadors  through  the  country, 
each  with  a  belt  of  wampum  (red  or  black  beads,  sig 
nifying  war),  and  a  tomahawk  stained  red.  In  each 
village  the  belt  was  accepted,  the  tomahawk  taken  up, 
and  the  chiefs  agreed  to  join  in  the  war.  Afterwards  a 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WARS.  157 

council  was  held  ;  and  they  agreed  to  attack  the  fort  of 
Detroit,  under  Pontiac's  lead. 

This  was  Pontiac's  plan  :  he  would  go  some  day  to 
the  fort,  with  thirty  or  forty  men,  and  ask  leave  to 
come  in  and  show  an  Indian  dance.  While  they  were 
dancing,  a  few  would  stroll  about  the  fort,  unnoticed, 
and  observe  every  thing  within  the  walls.  Then  they 
would  again  visit  the  fort,  ask  to  hold  a  council,  carry 
weapons  under  their  blankets,  and  at  a  given  signal 
strike  down  the  white  officers.  The  first  part  of  the 
plan  succeeded  ;  but  the  second  failed.  A  warning 
was  given  by  some  Indian  women  to  the  English  com 
mander  ;  and  when  Pontiac  entered  the  fort  with  his 
fifty  warriors,  each  carrying  his  gun  under  his  blanket, 
they  found  ranks  of  armed  soldiers  drawn  up  within. 
They  saw  that  their  plan  had  failed,  and  were  glad  to 
be  allowed  to  go  out  unharmed. 

After  this,  Pontiac  collected  his  allies,  and  laid  siege 
to  Detroit  for  many  weeks  in  1763.  It  was  the  longest 
siege  ever  conducted  by  Indians  ;  for  they  commonly 
relied  on  swift  and  sudden  movements ;  but  it  failed  at 
last,  although  several  other  forts  were  captured  by  Indi 
ans  during  this  siege.  At  Michillimackinac,  for  in 
stance,  on  a  holiday,  several  hundred  unarmed  Indians 
played  a  game  of  ball  outside  the  fort,  and  invited 
the  soldiers  out  to  see  them  play,  while  their  squaws 
stood  wrapped  in  their  blankets,  watching  the  game. 
Suddenly  the  ball  was  struck,  so  that  it  fell  near  the 
gate  of  the  fort.  The  warriors  pursued  it ;  but,  on  the 
way,  each  snatched  one  of  the  hatchets  that  had  been 
concealed  by  the  women  beneath  their  blankets,  then 
rushed  into  the  fort,  and  began  striking  down  the  gar- 


158  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

rison.  Scarcely  twenty  men  escaped.  Thus,  in  one 
way  or  another,  almost  every  fort  in  the  region  of  the 
lakes  was  retaken  by  the  Indians  from  the  English. 
Detroit,  however,  held  out  with  great  courage ;  but  the 
garrison  had  become  almost  exhausted  by  famine,  when, 
at  the  approach  of  winter,  the  Indians  gradually  scat 
tered,  and  gave  up  the  siege  after  five  months.  Noth 
ing  but  the  remarkable  power  and  energy  of  Pontiac 
could  have  carried  it  on  so  long.  He  was  at  last  com 
pelled  to  make  peace  with  the  English,  and  was  after 
wards  murdered  by  another  Indian  in  a  drunken  frolic. 
This  was  the  end  of  the  long  series  of  French  and  Indi 
an  wars  ;  and  the  English  colonists  were  now  to  have 
a  little  rest,  until  the  beginning  of  their  own  Revo 
lution. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

I  HAVE  thus  described  the  early  history  of  the 
thirteen  original  colonies,  —  "  the  old  thirteen,"  as 
they  were  often  called.  These  were  New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Vir 
ginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia. 
All  the  rest  of  the  present  States  were  made  from 
these,  or  from  territory  added  to  these;  so  that  the 
history  of  the  country  down  to  the  Revolution  is  the 
history  of  these  thirteen  colonies. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  each  of  the  thirteen  had 
something  peculiar  in  its  history  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  rest.  To  begin  with,  they  were  established 
by  several  different  nations.  Most  of  them,  it  is  true, 
were  founded  by  Englishmen ;  but  New  York  and 
New  Jersey  were  settled  by  the  Dutch,  and  Dela 
ware  by  the  Swedes ;  while  the  Carolinas  were  first 
explored  and  named  by  a  French  colony.  Most  of 
ihem  were  founded  by  small  parties  of  settlers,  among 
whom  no  great  distinctions  of  rank  existed  ;  but  two  of 
them,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  were  founded  by 
a  single  proprietor  in  each  case,  who  owned  the  whole 
•oil;  while  New  York  had  its  "patroons,"  or  large 

159 


160  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

landholders  with  tenants  under  them.  Most  of  them 
were  founded  by  those  who  fled  from  religious  persecu 
tion  in  Europe ;  yet  one  of  them,  Rhode  Island,  was 
made  up  largely  from  those  persecuted  in  another  col 
ony  ;  and  another,  Maryland,  was  founded  by  Roman 
Catholics.  Some  had  charter  governments  ;  some  had 
royal  governments  without  charters ;  and  others  were 
governed  by  the  original  proprietors,  or  those  who  rep 
resented  them. 

But,  however  differently  the  thirteen  colonies  may 
have  been  founded  or  governed,  they  were  all  alike  in 
some  things.  For  instance,  they  all  had  something  of 
local  self-government ;  that  is,  each  community,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  made  and  administered  its  own 
laws.  Moreover,  they  all  became  subject  to  Great 
Britain  at  last,  even  if  they  had  not  been  first  settled  by 
Englishmen  ;  and,  finally,  they  all  grew  gradually  dis 
contented  with  the  British  Government,  because  they 
thought  themselves  ill  treated.  This  discontent  made 
them  at  last  separate  themselves  from  England,  and 
form  a  complete  union  with  one  another.  But  this  was 
not  accomplished  without  a  war, — the  war  commonly 
j.  called  the  American  Revolution. 

When  we  think  about  the  Revolutionary  War,  we  are 
very  apt  to  suppose  that  the  colonies  deliberately 
came  together,  and  resolved  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
Great  Britain.  But  this  was  not  the  case  at  all.  When 
the  troubles  began,  most  of  the  people  supposed  them 
selves  to  be  very  loyal ;  and  they  were  ready  to  shoutj 
"  God  save  King  George  !  "  Even  after  they  had  raised 
armies,  and  had  begun  to  fight,  the  Continental  Con 
gress  said,  "  We  have  not  raised  armies  with  the  ambi- 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    REVOLUTION.  l6l 

tious  design  of  separating  from  Great  Britain,  and 
establishing  independent  States."  They  would  have 
been  perfectly  satisfied  to  go  on  as  they  were,  if  the 
British  Government  had  only  treated  them  in  a  manner 
they  thought  just ;  that  is,  if  Great  Britain  either  had 
not  taxed  them,  or  had  let  them  send  representatives  to 
parliament  in  return  for  paying  taxes.  This  wish  was 
considered  perfectly  reasonable  by  many  of  the  wisest 
Englishmen  of  that  day ;  and  these  statesmen  would 
have  gladly  consented  to  either  of  these  measures. 
But  King  George  III.  and  his  advisers  would  not  con 
sent  ;  and  so'  they  not  only  lost  the  opportunity  of 
taxing  the  American  colonies,  but  finally  lost  the  colo 
nies  themselves. 

There  were  some  reasons  why  it  seemed  just  that 

the    Americans   should   be    taxed.     The    debt  of    the 

V_     British  Government  was  very  great,  and  part   of    this 

_j    debt  had  been   incurred    in    defending   the  American 

\->    colonies  from  the  French  and  Indians.     So  it  seemed 

fair  that  these  colonies  should  help  to    pay  it ;    and 

probably  they  would  not  have  objected,   if  they  had 

been    represented    in  the   British  Government,  so  that 

they  could  at  least  have  had  a  voice  in  deciding  what 

their  taxes  should  be.     But  this  was  not  allowed  ;  and 

so  when  the  famous  "  Stamp  Act"  was  passed,  in  1765, 

the  popular  indignation  was  very  great. 

There  was  nothing  very  bad  about  the  law  called  the 
"  Stamp  Act,"  in  itself ;  and  Englishmen  would  not  have 
complained  of  it  at  home.  This  famous  act  required 
only  that  all  deeds  and  receipts,  and  other  legal  docu 
ments,  should  be  written  or  printed  on  stamped  paper, 
and  that  this  paper  should  be  sold  by  the  tax-collectors  ; 


1 62  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

the  money  going  to  the  government.  It  was  such  a  law 
as  has  always  existed  in  England ;  and,  indeed,  taxes 
have  since  been  imposed  in  a  similar  way  in  America. 
The  colonists  objected  to  it  only  because  it  involved  a 
principle.  No  matter  how  trifling  the  tax  might  be, 
they  objected  to  it.  They  said  the  British  Government 
had  no  right  to  put  this  or  any  other  tax  upon  them, 
when  they  were  not  represented  in  the  government. 
"  No  taxation  without  representation "  was  a  phrase 
constantly  heard  in  the  colonies  in  those  days ;  and  the 
excitement  about  the  Stamp  Act  was  .the  real  beginning 
of  the  Revolutionary  War.  \ 

Even  in  the  British  parliament,  ^rhen  the  Stamp  Act 
was  being  discussed,  there  were  persons  who  had  been 
in  America,  and  who  declared  that  the  imposed  law  was 
very  unjust.  The  member  to  whom  the  people  of 
America  felt  most  grateful  was  Colonel  Barre,  who  had 
fought  under  General  Wolfe  at  the  taking  of  Quebec. 
Mr.  Charles  Townshend  had  one  day  said  in  a  speech, 
"Will  these  Americans,  children  planted  by  our 
care,  nourished  by  our  indulgence,  till  they  are  grown 
up  to  strength  and  opulence,  and  protected  by  our 
arms, — will  they  grudge  to  contribute  their  mite  to 
relieve  us  from  the  weight  of  that  heavy  burden  under 
which  we  lie  ? " 

"  They  planted  by  your  care  ?  "  replied  Colonel  Barre. 
"  No,  they  were  planted  by  your  oppression.  .  .  . 
They  nourished  by  your  indulgence?  They  grew  up 
by  your  neglect.  .  .  .  They  protected  by  your  arms  ? 
They  have  nobly  taken  up  arms  in  your  defence.  .  .  . 
They  are,  I  believe,  as  truly  loyal  as  any  subjects  the 
king  has,  but  a  people  jealous  of  their  liberties,  and 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    REVOLUTION. 


'63 


who  will  vindicate  them,  if  ever  they  should  be  vio 
lated." 

This  bold  speech  by  Colonel  Barre  made  a  great 
excitement.  It  was  at  once  sent  to  America,  in  a  let 
ter,  and  was  reprinted  by  all  the  newspapers.  Every 
schoolboy  learned  to  declaim  it.  Nevertheless,  almost 
everybody  in  England  supposed  that  the  Stamp  Act 


PATRICK    HENRY    MAKING    HIS   GREAT    SPEECH. 

would  go  peacefully  into  effect ;  and  indeed  it  seemed 
doubtful,  for  a  time,  whether  the  colonies  would  not 
submit.  The  first  sign  of  opposition  was  given  in  Vir 
ginia.  In  the  Virginia  Assembly,  in  May,  1765,  a  young 
lawyer  named  Patrick  Henry  offered  resolutions,  de 
claring  that  no  power  but  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
colony  had  the  right  to  levy  taxes  upon  it,  and  that  to 


164  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

allow  such  power  in  any  other  body  was  to  destroy  al\ 
freedom.  In  his  speech  he  said,  "  Caesar  had  his 
Brutus,  Charles  the  First  his  Cromwell,  and  George  the 
Third  "  —  "  Treason  !  "  cried  the  speaker  of  the  As 
sembly,  interrupting  him ;  and  the  cry  of  "  Treason  !  " 
rang  through  the  hall.  Patrick  Henry  looked  sternly 
round,  and  finished  his  sentence,  —  "  may  profit  by  their 
example.  If  that  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 
Then  his  resolutions  were  adopted  by  a  small  majority; 
all  the  younger  members  being  with  him.  Thus  Vir 
ginia  gave  the  signal  of  resistance  for  the  colonies. 

This  example  was  quickly  followed.  In  Massachu 
setts,  James  Otis  proposed  that  an  "  American  Con 
gress  "  should  be  called,  which  should  come  together 
without  asking  the  consent  of  the  British  Government. 
Others  took  up  the  plan,  and  proposed  that  American 
liberties  should  be  left  "  to  the  watchfulness  of  a  united 
continent."  The  Congress  met  in  October,  1765  ;  and, 
though  only  nine  of  the  thirteen  colonies  sent  delegates, 
it  did  great  good  to  their  cause.  This  Congress  drew  up 
a  "  Declaration  of  Rights,"  and  a  petition  to  the  king. 
All  over  the  country  the  merchants  agreed  not  to  buy 
British  goods  ;  and  men  and  women  promised  to  wear 
homespun  clothes,  and  go  without  all  imported  things, 
in  order  to  show  that  they  were  not  dependent  on  Eng 
land.  One  patriotic  woman,  Mrs.  Gushing,  wrote  to 
her  friends,  "  I  hope  there  are  none  of  us  but  would 
sooner  wrap  ourselves  in  sheep  and  goat  skins  than 
buy  English  goods  of  a  people  who  have  insulted  us  in 
such  a  scandalous  manner." 

Then  there  were  still  more  violent  proceedings.  In 
Boston,  one  morning,  the  people  saw  an  effigy  of 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    REVOLUTION.  165 

Andrew  Oliver,  the  newly  appointed  agent  for  stamped 
paper,  hanging  on  a  great  elm,  afterward  called  "  Lib 
erty  Tree."  Chief  Justice  Hutchinson  ordered  the 
sheriff  to  take  it  down  ;  but  the  people  said,  "  We  will 
take  it  down  ourselves  at  evening."  In  the  evening  a 
great  crowd  collected,  took  down  the  image,  carried 
it  through  the  streets,  and  burnt  it  before  Andrew 
Oliver's  door.  Then  they  grew  so  excited,  that  they 
tore  down  Oliver's  house,  and  destroyed  the  contents 
of  the  house  of  Chief  Justice  Hutchinson.  In  Mary 
land,  also,  a  mob  destroyed  the  house  of  the  stamp- 
officer.  In  Rhode  Island  they  destroyed  the  houses  of 
two  men  who  had  favored  the  Stamp  Act,  and  they 
compelled  the  stamp-officer  to  resign.  In  Connecticut 
nearly  a  thousand  men  set  off  on  horseback,  and 
hunted  the  stamp-officer  till  they  caught  him,  and  made 
him  promise  to  resign,  and  to  fling  up  his  hat,  and 
cry,  "Liberty  and  Property!"  three  times.  In  New 
York  the  people  burnt  the  governor  in  effigy,  after 
dragging  the  image  through  the  town  in  one  of  his  own 
chariots.  Similar  things  happened  in  other  States  ;  so 
that  nobody  dared  to  act  as  stamp-officer,  and  the  law 
was  never  enforced.  The  news  went  quickly  to  Eng 
land;  and,  while  the  king  and  his  ministers  were 
enraged,  there  were  many  in  parliament  to  defend  the 
cause  of  the  Americans.  The  venerable  William  Pitt, 
Earl  of  Chatham,  said,  "The  gentleman  tells  us  that 
America  is  obstinate  ;  America  is  almost  in  open  re 
bellion.  I  rejoice  that  America  has  resisted." 

By  the  strong  efforts  of  such  men  as  Lord  Chatham, 
the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed  in  just  a  year  from  its 
passage ;  although  another  act  was  passed,  declaring 


1 66  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

that  parliament  had  a  perfect  right  "to  bind  the 
colonies  in  all  cases  whatsoever."  Then  there  was 
great  rejoicing.  In  Boston  the  bells  were  rung,  flags 
were  displayed  everywhere,  and  prisoners  for  debt  were 
released  to  share  in  the  general  joy.  At  night  the 
houses  were  illuminated,  and  Liberty  Tree  was  covered 
with  lanterns  till  its  boughs  could  hold  no  more.  For 
some  year,  nothing  more  was  said  about  taxes.  But,  a 
year  or  two  after  this  repeal,  another  act  was  passed, 
laying  taxes  on  glass,  paper,  tea,  and  other  articles. 
This  roused  new  indignation  ;  and  troops  were  stationed 
in  New  York  and  Boston  in  the  hope  to  keep  the  peo 
ple  quiet.  But  the  effect  was  just  the  other  way.  In 
New  York  the  soldiers  cut  down  the  liberty-pole, 
which  had  been  raised  when  the  Stamp  Act  was  re 
pealed  ;  but  the  people  put  it  up  again,  and  yet  again, 
the  soldiers  cutting  it  down  each  time.  '•* 

In  Boston  the  troops  made  themselves 'still  more  un 
popular.  There  was  soon  a  quarrel  between  them  and 
the  boys ;  for  the  soldiers  used  to  beat  down  the  snow- 
hills  that  the  boys  had  heaped  up  on  the  Common. 
After  appealing  in  vain  to  the  captain,  the  boys  finally 
went  to  Governor  Gage,  and  complained.  "What !  "  he 
said,  "  have  your  fathers  been  teaching  you  rebellion, 
and  sent  you  here  to  exhibit  it?"  —  "  Nobody  sent  us, 
sir,"  said  one  of  the  boys.  "We  have  never  injured 
nor  insulted  your  troops  ;  but  they  have  trodden  down 
our  snow-hills,  and  broken  the  ice  on  our  skating- 
ground.  We  complained ;  and  they  called  us  '  young 
rebels/  and  told  us  to  help  ourselves  if  we  could.  We 
told  the  captains  of  this  ;  and  they  laughed  at  us.  Yes 
terday  our  works  were  destroyed  the  third  time ;  and  we 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    REVOLUTION. 


i67 


will  bear  it  no  longer."  The  governor  said  with  sur 
prise,  to  one  of  his  officers,  "  The  very  children  here 
draw  in  a  love  of  liberty  with  the  air  they  breathe.  You 
may  go,  my  brave  boys,  and  be  assured,  if  my  troops 
trouble  you  again,  they  shall  be  punished." 

But  the  British  troops  in   Boston  very  soon  got  into 
more  serious  trouble.      The   young  men  of  the  town 


GENERAL   GAGE  AND   THE    BOSTON    BOYS. 

used  often  to  insult  the  red-coated  soldiers,  calling 
them  "  lobsters,"  "  bloody-backs,"  and  such  names,  and 
threatening  to  drive  them  from  the  town.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  soldiers  used  to  be  allowed,  by  their 
officers,  to  stray  about  the  town  in  the  evening,  car 
rying  their  guns,  and  without  any  proper  authority 
to  control  them.  One  moonlight  evening  (March  5, 


i68 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


1770),  some  soldiers  were  going  about  in  this  way,  and 
got  into  a  quarrel,  as  they  often  did.  As  they  were 
taunting  the  people,  and  calling,  " Where  are  they? 
Where  are  the  cowards  ? "  some  boys  began  to  snow 
ball  them,  crying,  "  Down  with  them  !  Drive  them  to 
their  barracks  !  "  The  noise  increased,  until  the  guard 
was  called  out,  commanded  by  Captain  Preston.  He 


PEOPLE  ATTACKING  THE  SOLDIERS   IN   BOSTON. 

came  roughly  through  the  crowd,  with  six  or  eight  men, 
whom  he  drew  up  in  line.  Many  of  the  people  fell 
back  :  but  about  a  dozen  men,  some  of  whom  had 
sticks,  advanced  to  meet  the  soldiers,  and  spoke  angrily 
to  them  ;  and  some,  it  was  said,  struck  at  the  muskets 
with  sticks.  The  noise  increased  every  moment,  till 
at  last  Captain  Preston  gave  the  word,  "  Fire  !  "  When 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    REVOLUTION.  169 

the  smoke  had  cleared  away,  there  were  eleven  men 
stretched  upon  the  ground,  of  whom  eight  were 
wounded,  and  three  killed.  Among  these  last  was 
Crispus  Attucks,  a  mulatto,  and  the  leader  of  the 
mob.  This  affair  made  an  intense  excitement ;  and 
Captain  Preston  was  tried  for  murder.  But  some  of 
the  leading  lawyers  of  Boston,  who  were  also  eminent 
patriots,  defended  him,  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
done  his  duty  as  an  officer ;  and  he  was  acquitted. 
The  public  indignation  was,  however,  so  great  over  the 
whole  affair,  that  the  two  regiments  of  troops  were  soon 
removed  to  the  barracks  at  Castle  William,  and  were 
not  allowed  to  stray  about  the  streets.  But  this  blood 
shed  never  was  forgotten  ;  and  the  "  Boston  Massacre  " 
was  another  step  towards  the  Revolutionary  War.  ^ 

Very  soon  another  step  was  taken,  on  the  shores  of 
Narragansett  Bay.  An  armed  British  schooner,  the 
"  Gaspee,"  had  been  stationed  in  that  bay  to  look  out 
for  smugglers.  The  duty  was  discharged  by  the  com 
mander  with  needless  severity ;  and  he  and  his  vessel 
became  very  unpopular.  It  was  believed  that  they 
went  far  beyond  any  authority  the  law  gave  them. 
One  day  (June  10,  1772),  a  packet-boat  left  Newport 
for-  Providence,  without  notifying  Lieutenant  Dudings- 
ton  of  the  "  Gaspee ; "  and  he  pursued  the  packet  more 
than  twenty  miles,  and  then  ran  hard  aground  on 
Namquit  Point,  about  seven  miles  below  Providence. 
The  news  soon  spread  through  town,  that  the  hated 
vessel  was  aground  near  by,  and  that  she  must  lie 
there  until  high  tide,  which  would  be  early  in  the 
morning.  Soon  a  drummer  went  through  the  streets, 
calling  all  men  who  would  help  destroy  the  "  Gaspee," 


iyo 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


to  meet  at  a  certain  tavern  after  sunset.  At  half-past 
nine,  eight  large  boats  filled  with  men,  and  with 
muffled  oars,  were  seen  gliding  down  the  bay.  They 
approached  the  "  Gaspee  "  at  midnight.  It  was  very 
dark ;  and  the  alarm  was  hardly  given,  when  the 
Rhode-Island  men  had  boarded  the  schooner,  over 
powered  the  crew,  and  tied  their  hands.  They  were  put 


DESTRUCTION   OF  THE    "GASPEE. 


on  shore  ;  and  the  schooner  was  set  on  fire,  and  utterly 
destroyed.  The  boats  went  home  in  broad  daylight. 
Almost  every  one  in  Providence  knew  what  had  hap 
pened  ;  and  yet,  though  a  reward  of  a  thousand 
pounds  was  offered  to  anybody  who  would  give  infor 
mation  against  the  offenders,  no  information  was 
ever  given,  and  nobody  was  ever  brought  to  trial. 


THE    BEGINNING   OF   THE    REVOLUTION.  17 1 

Meantime  the  news  went  through  all  the  colonies  that 
the  "  Gaspee  "  was  destroyed  ;  that  the  British  Govern 
ment  pronounced  its  destruction  an  act  of  high 
treason ;  and  yet,  that,  with  all  its  power,  it  could  not 
reach  one  of  the  offenders.  Through  all  the  colonies 
the  excitement  went  on  increasing ;  and  men  felt  more 
and  more  disposed  to  resist  what  they  thought  the 
unlawful  acts  of  King  George  and  his  ministry. 

Meanwhile  the  people  everywhere  were  learning  to 
go  without  those  articles  on  which  taxes  were  laid. 
They  wore  homespun  clothes,  instead  of  importing  the 
goods.  They  also  tried  various  experiments  in  making 
tea ;  using  raspberry-leaves  for  that  purpose,  and  sage, 
and  other  plants,  some  of  which  still  bear  the  names 
of  "Jersey  tea"  and  "Labrador  tea."  So  strong  was 
the  popular  feeling,  that  the  British  Government  finally 
decided  to  abandon  all  the  other  taxes,  but  to  insist  on 
that  laid  on  tea.  Some  large  shiploads  of  it  were 
therefore  sent,  in  hopes  that  the  people  would  every 
where  be  induced  to  pay  the  tax.  "  The  king,"  said 
Lord  North  proudly,  "  means  to  try  the  question  with 
America."  But  the  people  seemed  determined  to  try 
the  question  with  England  also ;  for  they  were  re 
solved  that  the  tea  should  not.  be  landed.  In  Boston, 
when  the  tea-ships  had  arrived,  the  "  Committee  of 
Correspondence  "  set  a  guard  over  them  as  they  lay  at 
the  wharf  ;  and  people  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
promised  to  sustain  the  Bostonians,  and  implored 
them  "to  stand  by  the  liberties  of  America."  They 
hoped  to  get  the  tea  sent  peaceably  back  to  London  ; 
and,  when  this  proved  impossible,  a  meeting  of  seven 
thousand  people,  the  largest  ever  held  up  to  that  time  in 


172 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


Boston,  took  place  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and  then  adjourned 

to  the  Old  South 
Church  in  order 
to  have  more 
room.  The  own 
er  of  one  of  the 
tea -ships  was 
sent  to  the  royal 
governor,  Hutch- 
inson,  to  ask  his 
leave  to  send  the 
vessels  back  to 
England  with 

FANHUIL   HALL  IN   1763.  thcil'      C  a  T  g  O  6  S   ', 

and,  when  he  returned  with  the  answer  that  the  gov 
ernor  refused  the  request,  Samuel  Adams  rose,  and 
said,  "  This  meeting 
can  do  nothing  more 
to  save  the  country." 
Then  a  war-whoop  was 
heard  at  the  porch:  a 
body  of  forty  or  fifty 
men,  disguised  as  In 
dians,  went  by  to  the 
wharf,  took  possession 
of  the  three  tea-ships, 
and  threw  three  hun 
dred  and  forty  chests 
of  tea  into  the  water. 
Then  they  quietly  dis 
persed,  and  did  no 
other  mischief  whatever.  This  was  called  "  the  Boston 
tea-party;"  and  it  took  place  Dec.  16,  1773. 


SAMUEL   ADAMS. 


THE    BEGINNING    OF   THE    REVOLUTION.  173 

New  York  and  Philadelphia  followed  the  example  of 
Boston  ;  but  they  did  not  have  occasion  to  throw  the  tea 
into  the  water,  for  the  captains  of  the  ships  readily  con 
sented  to  return  to  London  immediately.  In  Charles 
ton  the  tea  was  landed :  but  no  one  would  take  it  for 
sale,  or  pay  the  duty  ;  and  meanwhile  it  was  stored  in 
damp  cellars,  where  it  was  spoiled.  In  Annapolis  the 
tea  was  burned.  All  these  things  excited  the  people 
very  much,  and  made  the  colonies  more  and  more  ready 
to  unite  in  resisting  England.  The  first  Continental 
Congress  had  met  before  this,  and  there  was  soon  to  be 
another.  Meanwhile  in  Massachusetts,  which  seemed  in 
greater  danger  of  attack  than  any  other  State,  there  was 
also  a  Provincial  Congress  created  ;  and  under  its  direc 
tion  military  stores  were  collected  at  various  points. 
There  were  also  "  minute  men  "  drilling  under  old  sol 
diers  who  had  fought  in  the  "  French  and  Indian  War." 
There  were  also  organizations  called  "Sons  of  Lib 
erty,"  in  Massachusetts  and  several  other  colonies ; 
and  in  Rhode  Island  there  were  associations  of  women 
called  "  Daughters  of  Liberty."  \y 

In  the  mean  time  King  George  and  his  ministers 
grew  very  angry  at  the  conduct  of  the  Americans,  and 
especially  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts.  So  they 
passed  several  severe  laws,  abolished  the  Boston  town- 
meetings,  placed  troops  in  the  town,  and  ordered  that 
all  persons  accused  of  any  offence  should  be  taken 
elsewhere  for  trial.  But  the  severest  of  these  measures 
was  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  of  which  one  speaker  in  par 
liament  said  that  it  ought  to  be  called  "  A  Bill  to 
enslave  America."  This  law  closed  the  port  of  Bos 
ton  ;  that  is,  it  forbade  all  vessels  from  going  in  or 


174  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

out,  unless  they  brought  wood  or  provisions.  Any 
vessels  bringing  these  things  to  Boston  must  sail  first 
to  the  port  of  Marblehead,  thirty  miles  off ;  must  be 
entered  there  at  the  custom-house  ;  and  must  take  on 
board  a  custom-house  officer,  who  would  come  to  Bos 
ton  in  the  vessel.  This  cut  off  all  the  water-communi 
cation  of  the  country-towns  with  Boston,  unless  it 
went  round  by  way  of  Marblehead.  Not  a  stick  of 
wood  could  be  brought  in  from  any  of  the  islands  in  the 
harbor ;  nor  could  a  barrel  of  flour  be  brought  in  a 
row-boat  from  Cambridge ;  nor  so  much  as  a  shingle 
or  a  brick  be  taken  from  one  wharf  to  another  in  a 
skiff  or  a  scow.  As  commerce  was  then  the  chief 
business  of  the  Bostonians,  this  stopped  a  large  part 
of  the  industry  of  the  place. 

Of  course,  the  sympathy  of  other  towns,  and  even  of 
the  other  colonies,  was  at  once  excited.  So  a  great 
variety  of  gifts  began  to  be  sent  into  the  suffering 
town, — grain  from  Groton,  and  salt  fish  from  Marble- 
head,  and  a  flock  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  sheep  from 
Windham,  Conn.  The  southern  colonies  sent  flour 
and  rice  ;  and  the  middle  colonies  sent  corn  and  iron ; 
and  many  towns  sent  money  for  the  poor  ;  so  that  the 
effect  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  was  entirely  different 
from  what  the  British  Government  expected.  They 
thought  that  it  would  probably  frighten  the  colonies, 
and  make  them  fall  apart.  Instead  of  this,  it  made 
them  unite  more  firmly,  and  take  up  the  cause  of 
Boston  as  their  own. 

This  was  just  what  the  wisest  men  in  the  British 
parliament,  such  as  Edmund  Burke  and  Charles  James 
Fox,  had  predicted.  They  had  warned  the  government 


THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE    REVOLUTION.  175 

that  the  American  people  would  be  driven  into  open 
rebellion  by  such  measures.  But  King  George  was  a 
very  obstinate  man,  and  used  all  his  influence  in  par 
liament  to  push  such  laws  through.  The  result  was  as 
Burke  and  Fox  had  said.  The  Boston  Port  Bill  helped 
to  make  the  scattered  colonies  into  a  nation.  The  day 
when  the  law  took  effect  (June  i,  1774)  was  observed 
in  Hartford,  Conn.,  as  a  day  of  public  mourning.  The 
town-house  was  hung  with  black ;  a  copy  of  the  bill 
was  posted  on  it ;  and  the  bells  were  tolled  all  day. 
Even  so  far  off  as  Virginia,  the  legislature,  or  "  House 
of  Burgesses,"  attended  a  solemn  religious  service  on 
the  occasion,  and  heard  a  patriotic  sermon  from  the 
chaplain. 

If  we  could  have  entered  Boston  during  the  summer 
of  1774,  we  should  have  found  ourselves  on  a  peninsula 
much  smaller  than  the  present  Boston,  and  protected 
by  earthworks  across  the  "  Neck,"  where  a  guard  was 
stationed.  We  should  have  seen  the  wharves  almost 
deserted,  and  only  British  men-of-war  lying  in  the 
harbor.  We  should  have  found  the  laborers  of  the 
town  mainly  idle,  or  at  work  on  the  street-pavements 
or  the  public  brick-yards.  We  should  have  seen  the 
poorer  families  fed  by  contributions  sent  from  other 
towns  or  colonies.  We  should  have  observed  cannon 
mounted  on  the  heights,  tents  pitched  on  the  Common, 
and  companies  of  red-coated  soldiers  marching  through 
the  streets.  We  should  have  heard  of  private  meetings 
of  patriotic  citizens,  under  the  name  of  "  clubs,"  almost 
every  night.  In  these  meetings,  usually  held  in  gar 
rets  and  lofts,  we  should  have  seen  plenty  of  tobacco- 
cmoke,  and  people  drinking  punch  or  flip,  perhaps, 


176  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

after  the  fashion  of  those  times,  and  discussing  plans 
of  resistance,  and  news  from  other  parts  of  the  coun 
try  ;  for  in  those  days  every  man  who  had  an  impor 
tant  letter  from  any  other  colony,  or  from  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  then  in  session  at  Philadelphia,  would 
bring  it  to  the  meeting  to  read  aloud.  One  would  rise 
up,  and  say,  "John  Adams  writes  that  there  is  a  great 
spirit  in  the  Congress,  and  that  we  must  furnish  our 
selves  with  artillery  and  arms  and  ammunition,  but 
avoid  war,  if  possible,  if  possible  ! "  Another  would 
say,  "The  great  Virginia  orator,  Patrick  Henry,  on 
being  told  that  Major  Hawley  of  Northampton  said, 
'We  must  fight,'  answered, '  I  am  of  that  man's  mind.'" 
Then  another  man  would  call  out  that  he  had  been  to 
see  the  British  fortifications  on  the  Neck,  with  some 
old  soldiers  who  had  fought  at  Louisburg,  and  that 
they  had  laughed  at  these  earthworks,  and  said  that 
"  they  would  care  for  them  no  more  than  for  a  beaver- 
dam."  Then  we  can  imagine  what  shouts  of  laughter 
there  would  be  in  the  old  smoky  room,  and  what  cheers 
would  be  given  for  Patrick  Henry  and  John  Adams 
and  the  old  Louisburg  soldiers. 

"* /c  Then  we  must  remember  that  there  were  other  men, 
and  often  good  men,  too,  who  felt  very  sad  about  all 
this,  and  who  thought  that  it  was  very  wrong  to  resist 
King  George,  and  that  it  would  ruin  the  colonies  even 
to  attempt  such  a  thing  ;  and  who  tried,  with  tears  in 
their  eyes,  to  persuade  the  patriots  to  listen  to  reason. 
These  were  generally  the  rich  and  prosperous  men,  and 
those  who  held  offices  under  the  British  Government ; 
in  short,  the  people  who  had  most  to  lose  by  war  in 
any  case.  These  men  were  called  Tories  in  those 
days,  and  grew  more  and  more  unpopular.  Some  of 


THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    REVOLUTION.  177 

them  afterwards  changed  their  opinions,  and  became 
patriots :  others  left  the  United  Colonies,  and  went  to 
those  British  Provinces  which  had  refused  to  take  part 
in  the  Revolution,  especially  to  Nova  Scotia.  Some 
finally  fought  against  their  country  in  the  royal  armies. 
But  for  a  time  they  only  discouraged  the  revolutionists 
by  pointing  out  all  the  evils  that  would  follow  their 
"mad  attempt,"  as  they  called  it.  The  Tories  said, 
and  with  truth,  that  King  George  would  not  change  his 
policy,  and  that  more  and  more  troops  would  be  sent 
from  England.  They  pointed  out  that  these  would  be 
trained  troops,  and  that  the  colonies  had  only  raw 
militiamen  to  put  against  them.  ^ 

To  this  the  colonists  answered,  mat  there  were  now 
two  million  Americans,  perhaps  three  millions,  and 
that  one-fifth  were  fighting-men.  They  said  that  many 
of  these  were  trained  in  Indian  warfare,  and  some  had 
helped  take  Louisburg  and  Quebec.  Moreover,  in 
Braddock's  expedition,  they  had  seen  the  red-coats  run 
for  their  lives  before  the  French  and  Indians,  when  the 
Virginia  riflemen  stood  their  ground ;  each  man  taking 
to  a  tree,  and  exchanging  shot  for  shot.  As  for  officers, 
did  King  George  suppose  that  General  Putnam,  who 
had  been  tied  to  a  tree  by  Indians,  and  had  seen  the 
fire  blaze  up  around  him,  without  flinching,  was  likely  to 
flinch  before  English  muskets  ?  Had  not  young  Colonel 
Washington  saved  Braddock's  army  from  total  destruc 
tion,  and  afterwards  taken  Fort  Du  Quesne,  which 
Braddock  could  not  take  ?  This  is  the  way  the  patriots 
talked  in  those  days  ;  perhaps  ending  with  the  words 
of  the  brave  Dr.  Warren,  "  The  contest  may  be  severe  : 
the  end  will  be  glorious." 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

CONCORD,    LEXINGTON,    AND    BUNKER    HILL. 

IN  the  midst  of  all  this  excitement,  General  Gage,  the 
royal  governor,  called  the  legislature  of  Massachu 
setts  together,  and  then,  changing  his  mind,  dissolved 
it,  before  it  had  met,  by  a  proclamation  dated  Sept.  28, 
1774.  Upon  this,  all  the  members  elected  to  the  legis 
lature  came  together,  by  agreement,  without  asking  his 
leave,  and  organized  themselves  as  a  Provincial  Con 
gress.  They  at  once  began  to  get  the  militia  into  good 
working-order  ;  and  a  quarter  of  the  militiamen  were 
called  "  minute-men,"  and  were  bound  to  assemble  at 
the  very  shortest  notice.  Then  the  Provincial  Congress 
saw  to  the  collecting  of  arms  and  ammunition,  and 
stored  these  at  Concord  and  Worcester ;  and,  in  short, 
the  governor  found  himself  in  more  trouble  than  if  he 
had  allowed  the  legislature  to  meet.  Meanwhile  Brit 
ish  troops  kept  arriving  in  Boston ;  and  General  Gage 
kept  sending  out  spies  in  disguise,  to  find  where  the 
military  stores  of  the  patriots  were  deposited  ;  and  they, 
in  turn,  kept  careful  watch  on  his  movements,  lest  he 
should  send  out  to  capture  these  same  stores.  It  was 
agreed  that  a  special  watch  should  be  kept  at  Charles- 
town,  and  that,  if  it  was  known  at  any  time  that  a  large 
force  was  preparing  to  go  out  of  Boston  at  night,  a 
178 


CONCORD,    LEXINGTON,    AND    BUNKER    HILL.         179 

lantern  should  be  hung  out  from  the  North  Church,  by 
way  of  signal. 

One  night  the  watchers  on  the  Charlestown  side  of 
Charles  River  saw  the  lantern  gleaming  in  the  steeple. 
Instantly  all  were  in  motion  ;  and  messengers  went  rid 
ing  in  all  directions.  Other  messengers  had  meanwhile 
been  sent  across  in  boats  from  Boston  ;  and  one  of 
these,  named  Paul  Revere,  mounted  a  horse  immediately 
after  landing,  and  galloped  out  through  Medford,  to  a 
house  where  the  patriotic  leaders,  John  Hancock  and 
Samuel  Adams,  were  sleeping. 

"  Do  not  make  so  much  noise,"  said  the  soldier  on 
guard  before  the  house. 

"  Noise  !  "  said  Paul  Revere.  "  You'll  have  noise 
enough  before  long.  The  regulars  are  coming  out." 
So  he  galloped  on  from  house  to  house,  awakening  all 
the  principal  farmers  ;  and  we  may  well  suppose  that 
there  was  ho  more  sleep  in  any  house  that  night,  after 
Paul  Revere  had  passed  by. 

Meantime  some  eight  hundred  British  soldiers,  em 
barking  in  boats  at  the  foot  of  Boston  Common,  crossed 
to  what  is  now  East  Cambridge.  They  marched 
silently  along  the  marshes  ;  when  suddenly  the  bells  of 
the  country-towns  began  to  ring,  and  it  was  plain  that 
the  alarm  had  been  given.  Paul  Revere  and  the  other 
scouts  had  done  their  work  well.  The  commanding 
officer  of  the  British  then  sent  back  for  more  troops  ; 
and  Major  Pitcairn  was  sent  forward  with  two  or  three 
hundred  infantry,  having  orders  to  secure  the  two 
bridges  at  Concord.  But  when  Pitcairn  passed  through 
Lexington,  at  four  in  the  morning,  April  19,  1775,  he 
found  sixty  or  seventy  militia  collected  on  the  green, 
commanded  by  Capt.  John  Parker. 


180  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

"  Ye  villains,  ye  rebels,  disperse  !  "  cried  the  Eng 
lish  officer.  "  Why  don't  ye  lay  down  your  arms  ?  " 

Then  the  British  soldiers  fired ;  and  the  Americans 
fired  in  return,  but  did  little  damage.  Eight  of  the 
Americans  were  killed,  and  ten  wounded  ;  and  this  was 
the  first  blood  shed  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

After  this  the  British,  or  "  regulars,"  marched  on  to 
wards  Concord,  giving  three  huzzas.  By  this  time  the 
main  body  had  come  up,  and  joined  them.  While  this 
went  on,  the  Concord  people  were  removing  their  mili 
tary  stores  to  the  woods  for  safety!  Then  the  minute- 
men,  who  had  been  hurrying  towards  Concord,  —  to 
the  number  of  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  all,  — 
took  up  a  position  on  the  high  ground-  near  what  is 
called  the  "  North  Bridge,"  which  is  just  out  of  the  vil 
lage.  They  could  see  the  British  soldiers  moving  about 
the  streets,  destroying,  military  stores  and  provisions,* 
cutting  down  the  liberty-pole,  and  setting  the  court 
house  on  fire.  Then  the  officers  of  the  minute-men 
decided  to  march  down  to  the  bridge,  and  at  least  drive 
away  the  British  soldiers  who  were  stationed  there. 
Capt.  Isaac  Davis  of  Acton  said  proudly,  "  I  haven't  a 
man  that  is  afraid  to  go  ; "  and  he  and  his  company 
marched  at  the  head. 

When  they  reached  the  bridge,  the  British  soldiers 
fired ;  and  Davis  fell  dead.  Then  Major  Buttrick 
called,  "  Fire  !  for  God's  sake,  fire  !  "  Then  the  Amer 
icans  fired  ;  and  the  regulars  retreated  in  great  disorder, 
one  man  being  killed,  and  several  wounded.  But  the 
Americans  knew  that  they  were  too  few  to  attack  the 
main  body,  until  it  should  have  set  out  on  its  return. 

When  the  British  troops  had  destroyed  all  the  mill 


CONCORD,    LEXINGTON,    AND    BUNKER    HILL.         iSl 

tary  stores  they  could  find  at  Concord,  they  prepared 
to  return,  carrying  with  them  their  wounded.  They 
were  now  sixteen  miles  from  Boston,  and  they  were  not 
to  go  back  as  easily  as  they  came.  The  guns  and  bells 
had  roused  the  whole  country  round  ;  and  men  came 
hurrying  from  all  directions,  commonly  in  their  shirt 
sleeves,  without  order  or  discipline,  but  with  guns  in 


RETREAT   OF   THE    BRITISH    FROM    CONCORD. 

their  hands,  and  every  man  ready  to  shelter  himself 
behind  a  stone  wall  or  a  tree.  A  British  officer  wrote 
afterwards,  that  it  seemed  as  if  men  had  dropped  from 
the  clouds.  Sometimes  there  were  companies  of  minute- 
men,  and  at  other  times  only  single  farmers.  Every 
mile  that  the  tired  English  soldiers  marched  from  Con 
cord  to  Lexington,  they  had  more  and  more  opponents, 


182  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

who  kept  firing  from  behind  walls  and  trees ;  so  that 
men  were  constantly  falling,  wounded  or  killed.  At 
last  the  British  soldiers  fairly  ran.  There  was  great 
confusion.  Their  ammunition  was  almost  gone  ;  and 
they  would  have  had  to  surrender,  had  not  Lord  Percy 
marched  out  to  meet  them  with  re-enforcements,  and 
formed  his  troops  into  a  hollow  square  at  Lexington. 
Into  this  square  the  tired  fugitives  ran,  and  were  safe 
at  last,  fr 

"  They  had  to  lie  down  for  rest  on  the  ground,"  an 
English  historian  says,  "  their  tongues  hanging  out  of 
their  mouths,  like  dogs  after  a  chase." 

Lord  Percy  had  now  eighteen  hundred  men  under 
him,  and  he  retreated  more  slowly  for  the  rest  of  the 
way;  but  he  was  pursued  to  Boston  by  greater  and 
greater  numbers,  and  was  constantly  fired  upon ;  and 
his  troops  were  glad,  at  sunset,  to  get  under  protection 
of  the  guns  of  the  men-of-war.  The  British  had  suf 
fered  nearly  three  times  as  much,  in  "  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing,"  as  the  Americans. 

Great  was  the  excitement  produced  throughout  all 
the  colonies,  and  great  was  the  wonder  in  England, 
over  this  astonishing  retreat  of  regular  officers  before 
provincials.  The  American  farmers,  the  English  said, 
had  been  called  "  too  cowardly  to  face  the  regulars  ;  " 
and  yet  the  affair  had  turned  out  a  flight  of  the  Eng 
lish  ;  and  "  Lord  Percy's  activity  was  in  running  away." 
This  was  very  unjust  to  Lord  Percy,  who  was  a  brave 
officer;  but  it  shows  the  feeling  that  existed  in  Eng 
land.  And  in  America,  this  day  was  the  real  begin 
ning  of  the  Revolution.  Samuel  Adams,  when  he  heard 
the  guns  at  Lexington,  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  what  a  glorious 


CONCORD,    LEXINGTON,    AND    BUNKER    HILL.         183 

morning  is  this  !  "  for  he  knew  that  the  contest  would 
end  in  the  freedom  of  the  colonies.  President  Jeffer 
son  said  afterwards,  "  Before  the  igth  of  April,  1775,  I 
never  had  heard  a  whisper  of  a  disposition  to  separate 
from  Great  Britain." 

The  Massachusetts  committee  of  safety  at  once  sent 
out  addresses  to  the  different  towns,  and  to  $ie  other 
New  England  colonies,  asking  them  to  send  troops  to 
the  neighborhood  of  Boston.  Before  long  there  were 
some  fifteen  thousand  men  collected,  under  a  variety  of 
independent  commanders.  General  Ward  commanded 
those  from  Massachusetts  ;  General  Stark,  those  from 
New  Hampshire ;  General  Greene,  those  from  Rhode 
Island  ;  and  Generals  Spencer  and  Putnam,  those  from 
Connecticut.  The  army  was  not  at  all  disciplined ; 
it  had  few  cannon,  and  little  ammunition  ;  the  men 
came  and  went  very  much  as  they  wished.  But  they 
were  strong  enough  to  keep  the  British  army  of  five 
thousand  shut  up  in  Boston ;  and  (General  Gage  sent 
most  of  the  families  of  the  patriotic  party  out  of  town  ; 
so  that  there  was  very  little  intercourse  between  those 
within  and  those  without. 

[Fwas  found  that  there  were  two  ranges  of  hills  that 
commanded  Boston  on  two  sides,  —  Dorchester  Heights 
on  the  south,  and  Bunker  Hill  and  Breed's  Hill  on  the 
north-west.  It  was  of  importance  to  both  sides  to  get 
the  control  of  these  hills ;  and  the  Americans  had  rea 
son  to  know  that  General  Gage  was  planning  to  extend 
his  lines,  and  include  Bunker  Hill.  So  a  force  of  a 
thousand  men  was  sent,  one  night,  under  command  of 
Colonel  Prescott,  to  erect  some  earthworks  for  its  pro 
tection.  His  men  were  mostly  farmers:  they  had  no 


184  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

uniforms,  and  carried  fowling-pieces  without  bayonets. 
They  formed  on  Cambridge  Common,  and,  after  a 
prayer  by  the  president  of  Harvard  College,  marched 
at  nine,  P.M.,  June  16,  1775.  They  marched  so  silently, 
that  they  were  not  heard  ;  and  the  bells  of  Boston  had 
struck  twelve  before  they  turned  a  sod.  It  was  finally 
decided  to  fortify  Breed's  Hill,  as  being  nearer  to  Bos 
ton,  instead  of  Bunker  Hill.  The  work  was  soon  be 
gun.  As  they  worked,  they  could  hear  the  sentinels 
from  the  British  men-of-war  cry,  "  All's  well !  "  As  day 
dawned,  the  newly-made  earthworks  were  seen  from  the 
ships,  which  began  to  fire  on  them,  as  did  a  battery  in 
Boston.\  But  the  Americans  went  on  completing  their 
fortifications.  General  Gage  with  his  telescope  watched 
Colonel  Prescott  as  he  moved  about  the  works.  "  Will 
he  fight  ?  "  asked  he.  "  To  the  last  drop  of  his  blood," 
said  an  American  loyalist  who  stood  near.  Soon  the 
British  general  made  up  his  mind  to  lose  no  time,  but 
to  attack  the  works  that  day. 

It  was  now  the  171!!  of  June.  The  day  was  intensely 
hot.  Three  thousand  British  soldiers  were  embarked 
in  boats,  and  sent  across  to  Charlestown.  Prescott 
placed  his  men  as  he  best  could,  behind  the  half-fin 
ished  mounds  ;  and  a  detachment  was  stationed  at  a 
rail  fence,  on  the  edge  of  Bunker  Hill,  to  keep  the 
British  troops  from  flanking  the  redoubt.  This  rail 
fence  was  afterwards  filled  in  with  new-mown  hay,  to 
screen  better  those  behind  it.  Without  food,  without 
water,  and  with  very  little  ammunition,  the  Americans 
awaited  their  opponents.  There  were  from  two  to 
three  thousand  behind  the  breastworks,  and  four  thou 
sand  British  to  attack  them  ;  and  the  Americans  were 


CONCORD,    LEXINGTON,    AND    BUNKER    HILL.         185 

almost  without  drill  or  discipline,  while  the  British 
troops  were  veteran  regiments.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  British  were  obliged  to  advance  in  open  field,  while 
the  Americans  were  behind  their  earthworks,  —  a  far 
safer  position.  There  they  waited  as  quietly  as  they 
could,  while  Putnam,  Prescott,  and  others  moved  about 
among  them,  saying,  "  Aim  low."  "  Wait  till  you  can 
see  the  whites  of  their  eyes." 

The  British  soldiers  marched  forward  slowly ;  for  they 
were  oppressed  with  the  heat,  and  were  burdened  with 
their  knapsacks  of  provisions.  But  they  marched  with 
great  regularity,  and  entire  confidence.  They  fired  as 
they  went;  but  only  a  few  scattering  shots  were  fired  in 
return.  On,  on,  they  came,  till  they  were  within  some 
ten  rods  of  the  redoubt.  Then  the  word,  "  Fire !  "  was 
given  ;  and,  when  the  smoke  cleared  away,  the  ground 
was  strewed  with  the  British  soldiers,  and  the  survivors 
had  already  begun  to  retreat.  A  great  cheer  went  up 
from  the  forts ;  and  the  shout  was  echoed  from  the  rail 
fence.  The  Americans  behind  the  fence  were  next 
attacked  by  the  right  wing  of  the  British.  The  Ameri 
cans  withheld  their  fire  till  the  last  moment ;  and  three- 
fourths  of  the  advancing  soldiers  fell,  and  the  rest 
faltered.  Twice  the  British  advanced,  and  twice  they 
were  driven  backwards ;  while  very  few  of  the  Ameri 
cans  were  hurt.  Then  a  third  attack  was  made  upon 
the  main  fort.  The  British  officers  were  seen  threaten 
ing  the  soldiers,  and  even  striking  and  pricking  them, 
to  make  them  advance ;  but  they  were  very  unwilling. 
Putnam  passed  round  the  ranks,  telling  his  men,  that, 
if  the  British  were  once  more  driven  back,  they  could 
not  rally  again  ;  and  his  men  shouted,  "  We  are  ready 


i86 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


for  the  red-coats  again."  But  Putnam  knew  that  their 
powder  was  almost  gone,  and  told  them  to  reserve  their 
fire  till  the  British  were  within  twenty  yards.  Once  more 
they  awaited  the  assailants,  who  now  advanced  with 
fixed  bayonets,  without  firing,  and  under  the  protection 
of  batteries  of  artillery.  Most  of  the  Americans  had 
but  one  round  of  ammunition  left,  and  few  had  more 


DEATH  OF  GENERAL  WARREN. 

than  three.  Scarcely  any  had  bayonets.  Their  last 
shots  were  soon  fired  ;  and  there  was  nothing  for  them 
but  to  retreat  as  they  best  could.  They  fell  back 
slowly,  one  by  one,  losing  far  more  men  in  the  retreat 
than  in  the  battle.  Among  their  losses  was  the  brave 
General  Warren,  eminent  as  a  physician  and  as  a 
patriot.  He  was  president  of  the  Provincial  Congress, 


CONCORD,    LEXINGTON,    AND    BUNKER    HILL.         187 

and  was  there  only  as  a  volunteer,  not  in  command. 
The  British  general,  Howe,  on  hearing  of  his  death, 
said  that  it  was  equal  to  the  loss  of  five  hundred'  men 
to  the  Americans.  ^s* 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

WASHINGTON   TAKES   COMMAND. 

THE  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  the  colonies.  First,  it  settled  the 
question  that  there  was  to  be  a  war,  which  many  people 
had  not  before  believed.  Secondly,  it  showed  that 
inexperienced  American  soldiers  could  resist  regular 
troops.  It  is  said,  that,  when  Washington  heard  of  it,  he 
only  asked,  "  Did  the  militia  stand  fire  ?  "  And  when 
he  was  told  that  they  did,  and  that  they  reserved  their 
own  till  their  opponents  were  within  eight  rods,  he  said, 
"  The  liberties  of  the  country  are  safe."  The  battle 
was  not  claimed  as  a  victory  by  the  Americans ;  and  yet 
it  roused  their  enthusiasm  very  much.  The  ranks  of  the 
Continental  army  were  filled  up,  and  the  troops  were  in 
high  spirits.  On  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  surprise 
was  felt  in  England  at  the  courage  shown  by  the 
Americans  in  this  contest,  and  the  great  number  of 
killed  and  wounded  among  the  British  troops.  By  the 
official  accounts,  the  British  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
was  more  than  a  thousand  (1,054),  including  an  unusu 
ally  large  proportion  of  officers  ;  being  one  in  four  of  the 
whole  force  engaged.  The  Americans  lost  less  than 
half  as  many, —  not  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty. 
People  in  England  complained  that  none  of  their  regi- 
188 


WASHINGTON    TAKES    COMMAND.  189 

merits  had  ever  returned  so  diminished  in  numbers  from 
any  battle.  One  came  back,  for  instance,  with  only 
twenty-five  men.  And  it  was  said  that  "no  history 
could  produce  a  parallel  "  to  the  courage  shown  by  the 
British  in  advancing  beneath  such  a  murderous  fire. 
"  So  large  a  proportion  of  a  detachment,"  it  was  said, 
"was  never  killed  or  wounded  in  Germary."  where  the 
British  armies  had  lately  been  engaged. 

Even  before  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  the  Continen 
tal  Congress  had  voted  to  adopt  the  army  besieging 
Boston,  as  the  national  army,  and  to  raise  additional 
troops  in  other  States.  At  the  recommendation  of  the 
New  England  delegates,  George  Washington  was  unani 
mously  chosen  general-in-chief,  with  four  major-gene 
rals, —  Artemas  Ward,  Charles  Lee,  Philip  Schuyler, 
and  Israel  Putnam.  It  was  thought  best  that  the 
general-in-chief  should  not  be  from  New  England, 
because  it  was  wished  that  all  the  colonies  should  join 
in  the  war  ;  and,  besides,  there  was  no  man  in  Amer 
ica  who  could  claim  to  equal  Washington  in  military 
reputation.  So  he  came  from  Virginia,  arriving  on  July 
2,  1775,  and  the  next  day  stood  under  the  great  elm  in 
Cambridge  (still  known  as  the  Washington  Elm)  to  take 
command  of  the  Continental  army.  No  doubt  there 
was  great  curiosity  to  see  this  famous  officer  ;  and  we 
can  imagine  with  what  eagerness  the  soldiers  looked  at 
him.  When  they  looked,  they  saw  a  man  forty-three 
years  old,  more  than  six  feet  tall,  broad  and  vigorous, 
with  large  hands  and  feet,  rather  clumsy  in  his  move 
ments,  yet  with  great  dignity  of  bearing,  and  with  a 
noble  and  commanding  countenance  at  all  times.  He 
was  dressed  in  a  blue  coat  with  buff  facings,  buff  small- 


190 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 


clothes,  an  epaulet  on  each  shoulder,  and  a  black  cock 
ade  in  his  hat. 

.And  when  Washington  looked,  in  turn,  upon  his  army, 
he  saw,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  a  mixed  multitude 
of  people,  under  very  little  discipline,  order,  or  govern 
ment."  They  were  armed  with  fowling-pieces  or  mus 
kets,  hardly  any  two  of  which  were  of  the  same  caliber. 


WASHINGTON  TAKING  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  AT  CAMBRIDGE. 

Few  of  the  regiments  had  any  uniform  :  they  were 
collections  of  men  in  their  old  coats  or  their  shirt 
sleeves,  and  many  of  them  wearing  leather  small 
clothes.  Those  who  came  from  a  distance  had  usually 
some  similarity  of  dress,  to  distinguish  them  on  the 
march  ;  and  many  of  the  riflemen  who  soon  arrived 
from  Virginia  wore  hunting-shirts  of  brown  Holland, 


WASHINGTON    TAKES    COMMAND.  191 

"double  caped  over  the  shoulder,  in  imitation  of  the 
Indians;"  and  having  embroidered  on  the  breast,  in 
capital  letters,  "  Liberty,  or  death."  But,  in  general,  the 
aspect  of  the  Revolutionary  army  was  not  at  all  that  of 
disciplined  soldiers.  And  when  General  Washington 
went  round  among  the  camps  and  forts,  which  spread 
from  Cambridge  to  Charlestown,  he  found  any  thing  but 
military  regularity  and  neatness.  Some  of  the  troops, 
especially  those  from  Rhode  Island,  had  regular  lines 
of  tents  ;  while  others  lived  in  little  huts,  made  of 
boards,  or  stones,  or  turf,  put  in  any  place  where  shelter 
could  be  found,  and  sometimes  protected  at  the  doors 
and  windows  by  basket-work.  The  food  was  rough, 
and  often  scanty  ;  and,  worst  of  all,  there  was  a  great 
scarcity  of  powder.  At  first  there  were  only  seven 
cartridges  to  a  man.  Washington  wrote  to  Congress, 
"  Our  situation  in  the  article  of  powder  is  much  more 
alarming  than  I  had  the  faintest  idea  of."  Another 
officer  wrote,  "  The  word  '  powder '  in  a  letter  sets  us  all 
on  tiptoe."  Another  wrote,  speaking  of  General  Put 
nam,  "  The  bay  is  open  :  every  thing  thaws  here,  ex 
cept  old  Put.  He  is  still  as  hard  as  ever  crying  out  for 
'  powder,  powder  !  Ye  Gods,  give  us  powder  ! ' ' 

By  degrees,  the  army  was  supplied  with  many  neces 
sary  equipments  from  the  store-ships  taken  as  prizes  by 
the  Americans,  who  had  put  up  the  English  flag  on  Cas 
tle  William,  to  allure  in  vessels,  and  who  had  also  sent 
out  privateers.  But  the  scarcity  of  powder  remained  : 
and  this  was  the  chief  reason  why  General  Washington 
had  to  be  content  for  many  months  with  keeping  the 
British  army  besieged  in  Boston,  without  trying  to  take 
the  city.  Meanwhile  the  British  troops  in  Boston  be- 


192  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

gan  to  suffer  from  small-pox  and  also  for  want  of  food 
and  fuel,-  They  had  to  pull  down  old  houses  to  burn, 
and  had  to  send  hundreds  of  the  inhabitants  out  of  the 
town,  because  they  could  not  be  fed.  Some  of  the 
churches  were  turned  into  barracks ;  and  the  "  Old 
South,"  into  a  riding-school  ;  and  Faneuil  Hall,  into  a 
theatre.  Sometimes  the  British  used  to  send  out  play 
bills  to  Washington  and  his  generals.  Once,  in  this 
theatre,  the  British  officers  were  acting  a  play  called 
"  The  Blockade  of  Boston,"  in  which  a  figure  intended 
to  burlesque  Washington  was  just  coining  in,  wearing 
a  large  wig  and  a  long  rusty  sword,  and  attended  by  a 
countryman  with  a  rusty  gun.  Suddenly  a  sergeant 
appeared  on  the  stage,  and  cried,  "  The  Yankees  are 
attacking  our  works  on  Bunker  Hill ! "  At  first  this 
was  taken  for  a  part  of  the  play ;  but  when  General 
Howe  rose,  and  called  out,  "  Officers,  to  your  posts  !  " 
the  people  dispersed  hastily,  amid  the  shrieking  and 
fainting  of  women.  The  attack  at  Charlestown,  thus 
announced,  did  not  amount  to  much ;  but  General 
Washington  at  last  succeeded  in  erecting  a  battery  at 
Dorchester  Heights,  which  so  effectually  assailed  the 
British,  that  General  Howe  finally  embarked  his  army, 
and  quitted  Boston  forever,  March  17,  1776.  Nearly 
twelve  hundred  American  loyalists  went  with  the  fleet  to 
Halifax  ;  and  most  of  these  never  returned. 

But,  because  the  British  army  evacuated  Boston,  we 
must  not  suppose  that  they  meant  to  give  up  the  con 
test.  After  the  British  Government  heard  of  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  it  was  resolved  to  subdue  the  Ameri 
can  colonies,  no  matter  at  what  cost.  All  trade  and 
intercourse  with  the  colonies  were  prohibited ;  and 


WASHINGTON    TAKES    COMMAND.  193 

their  property  on  the  ocean  might  be  seized  by  any  one. 
Sixteen  thousand  Hessians  (or  Germans)  were  em 
ployed  in  the  British  army  ;  and  the  whole  force  des 
tined  for  America  amounted  to  fifty  thousand  men. 
Against  this,  the  whole  American  army  included  as  yet 
but  some  twelve  thousand.  Yet  the  only  effect  of  all 
this  was  to  make  the  Americans  feel  that  they  had  gone 
too  far  to  retreat,  and  must  persevere. 
13 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE   DECLARATION    OF   INDEPENDENCE. 

WE  must  remember  that  the  most  important  re 
sponsibilities  of  the  Revolution  were  not  taken 
by  the  farmers  who  fought  at  Lexington  or  Bunker 
Hill,  but  by  the  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia. 
For,  even  after  one  or  two  fights,  the  Americans  might 
have  drawn  back,  and  made  peace  again ;  but,  after 
the  Congress  had  solemnly  declared  that  the  "  United 
Colonies  are  and  of  right  ought  to  be  free  and  inde-. 
pendent  States,"  there  was  no  going  back,  and  they 
must  take  the  consequences.  Moreover,  the  soldiers 
had  only  to  fight ;  but  the  Congress  had  to  take  all  the 
difficult  work  of  raising  soldiers,  appointing  officers, 
collecting  and  expending  money,  and  negotiating  with 
foreign  governments  to  get,  if  possible,  their  aid.  It 
looked  like  a  very  desperate  undertaking. 

To  be  sure,  when  the  patriots  in  Congress  looked 
back  upon  the  few  battles  that  had  yet  taken  place, 
they  could  feel  that  the  Americans  had  begun  well. 
Dr.  Franklin,  who  was  always  cheerful  and  hopeful,  de 
scribed  their  situation  in  this  way,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend 
in  England  :  "  Britain,  at  the  expense  of  three  millions, 
has  killed  a  hundred  and  fifty  Yankees  in  this  cam 
paign,  which  is  twenty  thousand  pounds  a  head ;  and 
194 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.      195 

at  Bunker  Hill  she  gained  a  mile  of  ground,  half  of 
which  she  lost  again  by  our  taking  post  on  Ploughed 
Hill.  During  the  same  time,  sixty  thousand  children 
have  been  born  in  America.  From  these  data.  Dr. 
Price's  mathematical  head  will  easily  calculate  the 
time  and  expense  necessary  to  kill  us  all,  and  conquer 
our  whole  territory."  This  remark  was  printed  in  all 
the  American  papers,  and  was  very  encouraging.  But 
Dr.  Franklin  and  all  the  wise  men  knew  in  their  hearts 
that  the  Americans  were  unaccustomed  to  military  dis 
cipline,  that  there  was  great  jealousy  between  the  dif 
ferent  colonies,  and  that  many  of  the  richest  and  most 
influential  men  were  entirely  opposed  to  separating  from 
the  mother-country.  Washington  himself  said,  "  When 
I  first  took  command  of  the  army,  I  abhorred  the  idea 
of  independence  ;  but  I  am  fully  convinced  that  nothing 
else  will  save  us."  That  was  the  feeling  with  which  the 
Continental  Congress  came  together  to  consider  whether 
independence  should  be  declared.  And  the  people  at 
large  were  becoming  gradually  prepared  to  support  such 
a  declaration,  especially  those  who  had  read  a  book 
called  "Common  Sense,"  by  Thomas  Paine,  which  had 
been  circulated  very  widely  through  the  country,  and 
undoubtedly  did  more  than  any  other  book  toward  con 
vincing  the  Americans  that  the  time  for  separation  had 
come. 

The  leading  colony  at  that  time  was  Virginia  ;  while 
Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania  came  next  in  order. 
So  it  was  thought  best  that  the  first  proposal  of  inde 
pendence  should  come  from  Virginia,  and  that  it  should 
be  seconded  from  Massachusetts.  On  the  7th  of  June, 
1776,  Richard  Henry  Lee  of  Virginia  moved  these 
resolutions :  — 


196  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

"That  these  united  colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  States ;  that  they  are 
absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown ;  and 
that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State 
of  Great  Britain  is  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved. 

"That  it  is  expedient  forthwith  to  take  the  most 
effectual  measures  for  forming  foreign  alliances. 

"That  a  plan  of  confederation  be  prepared,  and 
transmitted  to  the  respective  colonies  for  their  consid 
eration  and  approbation." 

They  were  seconded  by  John  Adams  of  Massachu 
setts.  The  first  discussion  of  them  showed,  that,  though 
the  members  generally  were  in  favor  of  independence, 
yet  there  were  some  who  thought  the  nation  not  ready 
for  it.  So  it  was  decided  to  postpone  further  discus 
sion  to  the  ist  of  July.  In  the  meanwhile,  it  was 
thought,  the  people  of  the  colonies  would  show  whether 
they  were  ready  for  independence,  or  not.  And  show 
it  very  clearly  they  did.  Before  the  end  of  that  month, 
the  people  of  every  colony  but  one  had  either  held 
meetings,  and  voted  that  they  wished  for  independence, 
or  else  had  instructed  their  delegates  to  vote  for  it ;  and, 
when  the  subject  came  up  on  the  appointed  day, 
New  York  was  the  only  colony  that  did  not  vote  to 
declare  independence ;  and  even  New  York  did  not 
vote  against  it. 

During  this  time  of  delay,  a  committee  had  been 
appointed  to  draw  up  a  declaration  of  independence 
to  be  used,  if  necessary.  This  committee  consisted  of 
Thomas  Jefferson  of  Virginia,  John  Adams  of  Massa 
chusetts,  Benjamin  Franklin  of  Pennsylvania,  Roger 
Sherman  of  Connecticut,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston  of 


THE    DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  197 

New  York.\  •  The  Declaration  was  written  by  Thomas 
Jefferson  ;  though  a  very  few  verbal  changes  were  made 
by  Adams  and  Franklin,  which  may  still  be  seen,  in 
their  handwriting,  on  the  original  document.  There 
was  a  long  discussion  in  the  Congress ;  and  the  Decla 
ration  was  debated  and  criticised,  word  by  word,  and 
sometimes  very  severely  attacked.  During  this  attack, 
John  Adams  was  its  chief  defender ;  while  Jefferson, 
who  had  written  it,  did  not  say  a  word.  He  says  in  his 
journal,  "  During  the  debate  I  was  sitting  by  Dr.  Frank 
lin,  who  observed  that  I  was  writhing  a  little  under  the 
acrimonious  criticism  of  some  of  its  parts  ;  and  it  was 
on  that  occasion,  that,  by  way  of  comfort,  he  told  me  the 
story  of  John  Thompson  the  hatter,  and  his  new  sign." 
This  was  a  story  —  told,  also,  by  Dr.  Franklin  in  his  Auto 
biography —  in  regard  to  a  man  who  was  about  opening 
a  shop  for  hats,  and  who  proposed  to  have  a  sign-board 
with  a  hat  painted  on  it,  and  the  inscription,  "  John 
Thompson,  hatter,  makes  and  sells  hats."  But  almost 
every  word  of  this  inscription  met  with  objection  from 
somebody,  as  being  unnecessary  ;  and  at  last  it  was 
reduced  to  "John  Thompson,"  with  the  figure  of  a  hat. 
It  was  thus  that  Franklin  amused  Jefferson  during  the 
anxious  hours  when  this  most  important  measure  was 
under  discussion. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted  July 
4,  1776,  though  ii  \  as  not  signed  until  some  weeks 
later.  When  the  members  of  Congress  came  up  to 
sign,  Dr.  Franklin  was  still  ready  with  his  cheerful  wit. 
John  Hancock,  who  headed  it,  said  to  the  others,  "  We 
must  be  unanimous  :  there  must  be  no  pulling  different 
ways  :  we  must  all  hang  together."  —  "  Yes,"  said  Frank 
lin,  "we  must  all  hang  together,  or  else  we  shall  all  hang 


198  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

separately."  We  can  imagine  how  they  all  may  have 
laughed  at  this.  But  it  was  really  a  dangerous  respon 
sibility  that  they  were  taking  ;  and  no  doubt  there  were 
some  anxious  hearts  even  among  those  who  laughed. 

But  at  last  the  great  Declaration  was  adopted,  with 
out  being  much  altered.  The  principal  change  was 
in  striking  out  a  passage  which  condemned  the  king 
of  England  for  his  support  of  the  slave-trade  more 
severely  than  some  of  the  Southern  members  approved. 
In  its  final  form  it  was  adopted  by  twelve  colonies ; 


OLD   STATE    HOUSE,    PHILADELPHIA. 

New  York  still  declining  to  vote.  It  had  been  privately 
resolved,  that,  when  it  was  passed,  the  bell  of  the 
old  State  House  should  be  rung.  This  was  a  bell 
which  had  been  put  up  some  twenty  years  before,  and 
which  bore  the  inscription,  "  Proclaim  liberty  through 
out  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof."  So  the 
old  bell-ringer  placed  his  little  boy  at  the  hall-door  to 
await  the  signal  of  the  door-keeper ;  and,  when  inde 
pendence  was  declared  at  last,  the  door-keeper  gave 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.      199 

the  signal,  and  the  boy  ran  out,  exclaiming,  "  Ring, 
ring,  ring !  "  Then  the  bell  rang  out  joyfully,  proclaim 
ing  liberty  to  all  the  land.  There  were  rejoicings  every 
where  ;  and  the  Declaration  was  read'  to  each  brigade  in 
the  army.  This  is  the  way  the  "  Pennsylvania  Journal  " 
described  the  excitement :  — 

"  This  afternoon  (July  10)  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  was  read  at  the  head  of  each  brigade  of  the 
Continental  Army  posted  at  and  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York.  It  was  received  everywhere  with  loud  huzzas, 
and  the  utmost  demonstrations  of  joy  ;  and  to-night  the 
equestrian  statue  of  George  III.,  which  Tory  pride  and 
folly  raised  in  the  year  1770,  has,  by  the  Sons  of  Free 
dom,  been  laid  prostrate  in  the  dirt, — the  just  desert 
of  an  ungrateful  tyrant." 

This  was  the  courageous  feeling  with  which  the  Dec 
laration  of  Independence  was  received.  Yet  at  this 
very  time  the  enterprise  seemed  so  daring,  and  the  con 
dition  of  the  American  army  was  so  poor,  that  Adjutant- 
General  Reed,  who,  from  his  position,  knew  the  state 
of  military  affairs  better  than  any  one  else,  had  written 
thus  a  few  days  before,  "  Every  man,  from  the  general 
to  the  private,  acquainted  with  our  true  situation,  is 
exceedingly  discouraged.  Had  I  known  the  true  posi 
tion  of  affairs,  no  consideration  would  have  tempted  me 
to  take  an  active  part  in  this  scene." 

After  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  been 
adopted,  it  was  thought  to  be  time  that  the  "  United 
States  "  should  have  a  flag  of  its  own,  as  being  an  in 
dependent  nation.  At  the  opening  of  the  war  a  variety 
of  flags  had  been  used.  That  carried  by  the  first  war- 
vessels  commissioned  by  Washington  was  called  "  the 


200 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 


pine-tree  flag,"  and  originated  with  the  Massachusetts 
Colony.  It  had  a  white  ground,  a  tree  in  the  middle, 
and  the  motto,  "  Appeal  to  Heaven." 
This  is  the  way  the  English  papers 
describe  the  flag  taken  from  a  colonial 
vessel  in  1776;  and  a  map  of  Boston 
was  published  in  Paris  that  same 
year,  which  represented  this  flag.  The 
American  troops  still  sometimes  used 
the  British  flag,  considering  themselves 
still  a  part  of  the  British  nation.  While 
Washington  was  in  command  at  Cam 
bridge,  he  unfurled  before  the  army  a 
new  flag,  which  had  thirteen  stripes  of 
red  and  white,  as  now,  but  had  upon  its 
corner  the  red  and  white  cross  which 
then  marked  the  British  flag.  This 
was  the  flag  carried  by  the  Amer 
ican  troops  into  Boston  when  the 
royal  troops  marched  out ;  but 
Congress  voted,  June  17,  1777, 
"that  the  flag  of  the  thirteen 
United  States  be  thirteen  stripes, 

alternate  red  and  white,  and 
the  union  be  thirteen  white 
stars  in  the  blue  field." 

The  first  person  to  hoist 
this  new  flag  over  an  Ameri 
can  ship-of-war  was  Capt. 
Paul  Jones,  afterwards  fa 
mous  in  fight.  It  is  said  that  the  flag  was  first  made 
and  given  to  him  by  some  patriotic  ladies  in  Philadel- 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.      2OI 

phia,  and  that  he  procured  a  small  boat,  and  sailed 
up  and  down  the  Schuylkill  River,  with  the  colors 
unfurled,  to  show  the  assembled  people  what  their 
national  ensign  was  to  be.  This  is  the  flag  that  now 
waves  over  every  United  States  vessel,  or  camp,  or 
building,  except  that,  for  every  State  added  to  the 
Union,  a  new  star  has  been  placed  on  the  flag ;  while 
the  thirteen  stripes  still  remind  us  of  the  "old  thir 
teen  "  colonies  that  won  their  independence. 


CHAPTER   XXL 

THE    REMAINDER    OF    THE    WAR. 

UP  to  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
almost  the  whole  fighting  had  been  about  Boston, 
although  the  British  had  made  an  unsuccessful  attack 
on  Charleston,  S.C.,  and  the  Americans  had  tried, 
with  equal  ill-success,  to  overrun  Canada,  and  take 
Quebec.  But  Washington  foresaw  that  an  attempt 
would  be  soon  made  by  the  royal  generals  to  occupy 
New  York  :  so  he  sent  General  Lee  from  ^Cambridge 
to  defend  it ;  and  he  himself  soon  followed,  after  the 
evacuation  of  Boston.  Sir  William  Howe  also  took 
thither  the  British  soldiers  who  had  been  withdrawn 
from  Boston  ;  and  his  brother,  Admiral  Lord  Howe, 
went  thither  with  re-enforcements  to  meet  him ;  and 
General  Clinton  came  from  the  South  with  additional 
troops.  So  there  were  some  twenty-four  thousand 
British  and  Hessian  troops  to  be  met,  and  only  about 
half  that  number  of  Americans  yet  enlisted. 

Lord  Howe  had  orders  from  King  George  to  offer 
terms  of  peace  ;  but  he  did  not  know  exactly  to  whom 
to  offer  them.  First  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  royal  gov 
ernors  :  but  there  were  no  royal  governors  left ;  and  the 
letter  came  into  Washington's  hands,  and  proved  to 
contain  nothing  satisfactory.  Then  Lord  Howe  wrote 


THE    REMAINDER    OF    THE    WAR.  203 

a  letter  addressed  to  "  George  Washington,  Esq. ; "  and 
his  brother  wrote  another  addressed  to  "  George  Wash 
ington,  &c. : "  but  Washington  declined  to  receive  any 
that  were  not  addressed  to  him  in  his  true  character 
as  general  commanding  the  United  States  army.  So 
Lord  Howe  wrote  no  more  letters,  but  prepared  to 
fight.  The  American  troops  were  at  first  defeated. 
They  lost  several  battles  ;  and  Washington  with  his 
main  army  had  to  leave  New  York  to  the  British  troops, 
and  to  retreat  gradually  through  New  Jersey,  followed 
by  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  reached  one  side  of  the  Dela 
ware  River  just  as  Washington  and  his  army  had 
landed  on  the  other.  This  retreat  naturally  encouraged 
the  British  very  much,  and  discouraged  the  Americans. 
Washington  had  hardly  three  thousand  men  in  Penn 
sylvania  ;  and  many  of  these  had  neither  shoes  nor 
decent  clothing. 

This  made  it  particularly  desirable,  as  Washington 
thought,  that  he  should  strike  some  daring  blow.  He 
knew  that  there  was  a  body  of  about  a  thousand  Hes 
sian  troops  at  Trenton.  These  Hessians  were  hired 
troops  from  the  Province  of  Hesse-Cassel  in  Germany  ; 
and  Washington  knew  the  ways  of  the  Germans.  He 
was  quite  sure  that  on  Christmas  Day  (1776),  they 
would  have  a  great  celebration,  and  would  be  particu 
larly  off  their  guard.  So  he  waited  until  the  evening 
of  that  day,  crossed  the  Delaware,  and  marched  all 
night  through  storm  and  sleet,  taking  them  by  surprise 
at  daylight.  Some  loyalist  had  written  a  note  to  the 
German  commander,  warning  him  ;  but  he  had  paid  no 
attention  to  it.  He  was  killed  in  the  fight,  while  all  his 
soldiers  were  taken  prisoners. 


204 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


Soon  after  this,  Washington  gained  a  victory  at 
Princeton,  through  a  surprise.  These  successes  en 
couraged  the  Americans  ver)f  much ;  and,  though  they 
had  now  nearly  fifty  thousand  soldiers  against  them, 
they  all  wished  to  persevere.  Additional  troops  were 
raised  ;  but  Washington  soon  had  to  abandon  Phila- 


W\SHINf;TONT    CROSSING    THE    DH1.AWAKK. 


delphia,  and  spent  a  gloomy  and  suffering  winter  with 
his  army  at  Valley  Forge. 

If  we  could  see  in  imagination  the  camp  of  Wash 
ington  at  Valley  Forge,  we  should  understand  better 
the  sacrifice  made  to  secure  our  liberty.  The  American 
army  had  diminished  one-half,  through  desertion  and 
illness.  From  forty-five  thousand  men,  it  had  shrunk 
to  twenty  thousand.  At  Valley  Forge  the  soldiers 
slept  without  blankets  ;  and  many  had  to  sit  up  all 


THE    REMAINDER    OF    THE    WAR.  205 

night  by  their  fires.  At  one  time  there  were  mere  than 
a  thousand  without  shoes  ;  and  you  might  track  them 
in  the  snow  by  their  bleeding  feet.  Even  the  sick  often 
had  to  lie  on  the  ground  for  want  of  straw.  They  had 
scarcely  any  horses  ;  and  the  soldiers  made  little  carts 
to  draw  their  wood  and  provisions  to  their  huts.  Offi 
cers  on  parade  sometimes  wore  old  blankets  or  faded 
bedquilts  to  cover  them.  The  troops  were  hardly 
ever  paid ;  and  the  money  in  which  they  were  paid 
had  almost  lost  its  value.  Food  was  scarce  ;  and  the 
gloomy  saying  was,  "  No  bread,  no  soldier."  There 
were  foreign  officers  in  the  camp,  who  had  come  to  aid 
the  cause  of  liberty, — La  Fayette,  De  Kalb,  Kosciu^ko, 
Pulaski,  Steuben.  They  were  men  accustomed  to 
courts  and  luxury  ;  and  the  buildings  where  they  lived 
were  "  no  gayer  than  a  dungeon,"  La  Fayette  said. 
Daring  all  this  hard  time  Washington  behaved  most 
nobly.  He  was  obliged  to  conceal,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  wretched  condition  and  small  numbers  of  his  army ; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  was  constantly  censured  by 
members  of  Congress,  and  even  by  other  generals, 
for  not  making  these  poor  starved  soldiers  into  "  an 
irresistible  body  of  men."  Meanwhile  the  British  army 
lived  in  comfort  in  Philadelphia,  and  their  officers 
enjoyed  every  luxury. 

General  Burgoyne,  with  a  part  of  the  British  army, 
invaded  the  New  England  States,  through  Canada, 
early  in  1777,  issuing  a  proclamation,  inviting  the  In 
dians  to  join  him.  He  passed  along  Lake  Champlain, 
took  Fort  Ticonderoga,  and  afterwards  sent  a  large 
detachment  to  destroy  military  stores  at  Bennington. 
There  it  was  attacked  by  General  Stark,  with  a 


206  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

militia  force  from  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire. 
Stark  had  been  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  had  satisfied  him 
self  that  the  American  troops  could  be  trusted  to  attack 
as  well  as  to  resist.  He  is  said  to  have  called  oirt  to 
his  men,  before  the  battle,  "  There  are  the  red-coats  ! 
Before  night  we  must  conquer  them,  or  Molly  Stark  is 
a  widow."  The  Americans  carried  the  day;  and  when, 
the  next  day,  another  force  of  Hessians  came  up,  Stark 
attacked  and  defeated  them  also.  This  success  helped 
to  encourage  the  Americans  ;  and  a  still  greater  event 
followed.  Burgoyne,  with  his  whole  army,  encamped 
at  Saratoga,  and  was  followed  thither  by  General  Gates 
with  an  American  force.  Two  battles  were  fought  at 
Stillwater,  without  decided  results  ;  but  after  this  the 
British  army  retreated.  They  were,  however,  hemmed 
in  by  the  army  of  General  Gates.  And  on  Oct  17, 1777, 
General  Burgoyne,  with  his  whole  army  of  more  than 
five  thousand  men,  surrendered  as  prisoners  to  the 
Americans,  at  Saratoga. 

This  was  an  event  of  the  greatest  possible  impor 
tance  to  the  Americans.  It  encouraged  the  suffering 
army  of  Washington  at  Valley  Forge  ;  and  it  startled  the 
friends  of  America  in  Europe,  who  had  not  hoped  for 
any  success  so  great.  This  was  especially  the  case  in 
France,  where  much  sympathy  had  already  been  felt  for 
America,  so  that  young  Frenchmen  had  volunteered  in 
our  army ;  and  yet  the  French  Government  had  steadily 
refused  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  American  colonies. 
But,  after  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  Dr.  Franklin 
and  the  other  commissioners  succeeded  in  obtaining 
not  only  a  treaty,  but  many  promises  of  substantial  aid, 
from  France.  This  was  Feb.  6,  1778.  This  treaty 


THE    REMAINDER    OF    THE    WAR.  207 

again  alarmed  the  English  Government,  and  parliament 
passed  bills,  and  sent  over  commissioners,  to  conciliate 
America.  But  it  was  now  too  late  ;  for  the  Americans 
had  grown  accustomed  to  the  thought  of  entire  inde 
pendence,  and  would  take  nothing  less.  However,  the 
commissioners  came,  and  tried  to  influence  Congress, 
and  offered  large  bribes  to  leading  patriots,  to  aid  their 
efforts.  For  instance,  a  sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds 
was  offered  to  Gen.  Joseph  Reed ;  and  he  replied,  "  I 
am  not  worth  purchasing  ;  but,  such  as  I  am,  the  king 
qf  Great  Britain  is  not  rich  enough  to  buy  me." 
JplBut  the  aid  from  France  proved  less  than  was  ex 
pected.  Fleets  were  sent  out  by  the  French  Govern 
ment,  to  be  sure  ;  but  they  did  little  good,  and  were 
unsuccessful  in  all  their  enterprises.  The  Revolution 
ary  War  dragged  slowly  on  for  three  years  more,  with 
varying  success.  Sometimes  the  Americans  were  bril 
liantly  successful ;  as  once  at  Stony  Point,  on  the  Hud 
son,  in  1779,  where  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne  —  "Mad 
Anthony"  as  he  was  often  called  —  took  a  strong  for 
tification  on  a  steep  hill,  by  making  his  men  charge  up 
the  hill  in  two  columns,  with  fixed  bayonets,  and  with 
out  firing  a  gun.  At  other  times  the  Americans  were 
beaten,  as  when  Sir  Henry  Clinton  besieged  and  took 
Charleston,  S.C.  There  were  cruel  massacres,  as  when 
in  1778  a  band  of  Tories  (or  American  loyalists) 
employed  the  services  of  Indians  to  murder  men, 
women,  and  children  at  Wyoming,  Penn.  Then  there 
were  sea-fights,  in  the  course  of  which  Paul  Jones 
was  made  famous  by  one  contest  between  his  ship, 
the  "Bonhomme  Richard,"  and  the  British  frigate 
"  Serapis."  The  ships  were  lashed  side  by  side  ;  and 


208  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

they  fought  for  three  hours,  chiefly  from  the  rigging  and 
tops,  both  ships  taking  fire  again  and  again,  until  the 
British  vessel  yielded.  This  was  in  1779.  Then  there 
were  very  daring  deeds  in  the  way  of  what  is  called  par 
tisan  warfare,  especially  by  Marion  and  Sumter,  in  the 
forests  of  South  Carolina.  These  brave  men  threaded 
the  woods  by  paths  known  only  to  themselves,  and 


THE  "BONHOMME  RICHARD"  AND  "SEKAPIS." 

made  long  journeys  at  night  to  attack  the  various  posts 
of  the  British  troops,  who  then  held  Charleston  and  its 
neighborhood.  Marion  was  called  the  Swamp-Fox ;  and 
the  British  officers  complained  of  him  for  not  coming 
out  into  the  open  field  "  to  fight  like  an  officer  and  a 
gentleman." 

There  was  one  great  act  of  treason  committed  during 


THE    REMAINDER    OF    THE    WAR.  209 

the  war  by  one  of  the  most  distinguished  officers  of 
the  American  army,  —  Gen.  Benedict  Arnold.  He  had 
taken  part  in  the  war  from  its  very  beginning,  and  had 
distinguished  himself  by  marching  a  party  of  troops 
through  the  forests  of  Maine  to  attack  Quebec,  and  by 
commanding  a  naval  force  in  a  severe  battle  on  Lake 
Champlain,  and  in  various  other  ways.  Nevertheless, 
he  had  the  reputation  of  being  selfish  and  revengeful, 
had  not  the  full  confidence  of  his  brother-officers,  and 
had  seen  others  promoted  above  him.  For  a  year  and 
a  half,  as  it  afterwards  proved,  he  had  been  in  secret 
correspondence  with  the  British  commander-in-chief, 
Sir  Henry  Clinton,  the  letters  passing  under  feigned 
names  ;  so  that  Sir  Henry  himself  did  not  know,  for  a 
long  time,  with  whom  he  was  corresponding.  In  the 
course  of  this,  Arnold  got  himself  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  Hudson  River,  with  his  headquarters 
at  West  Point.  This  was  then  considered  the  most 
strongly-fortified  point  in  the  colonies,  and  was  called 
the  "  American  Gibraltar."  It  was  called  "  the  key  of 
communication  between  the  Eastern  and  the  Southern 
States  ; "  so  that  it  would  have  been  almost  ruinous  to 
the  colonial  cause,  if  it  had  been  transferred  to  the 
English.  This  was  what  Arnold  proposed  to  surren 
der  ;  and  he  would  have  succeeded,  but  for  the  capture 
of  the  British  officer  who  carried  on  the  negotiations. 

One  day  some  young  Americans  who  were  out  among 
the  hills  in  what  was  called  the  neutral  ground,  between 
the  lines  of  the  two  armies,  saw  a  man  advancing 
along  the  road,  stopped  him,  and  questioned  him. 
Supposing  them  to  be  loyalists,  of  whom  there  were 
many  in  that  region,  he  indiscreetly  told  them  that  he 
»4 


210 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


was  a  British  officer.  He  proved  to  be  Major  Andre*, 
aide-de-camp  to  the  commander-in-chief.  They  then 
searched  him,  and  found  papers  concealed  in  his  boots, 
giving  full  information,  received  from  Arnold,  in  regard 
to  the  garrison  and  defences  of  West  Point,  and  the 
plan  of  its  surrender.  Major  Andre  offered  them  large 
sums  for  his  release  ;  but  they  refused  to  accept  them, 


CAPTURE   OF   MAJOR   ANDRE. 

and  took  him  to  the  nearest  military  station.  This 
was  on  the  23d  of  September,  1780.  He  was  afterwards 
brought  before  General  Washington,  and  tried  by  court- 
martial.  There  was  much  excitement  in  regard  to  this 
act  of  treason,  and  much  sympathy  was  felt  for  Andre ; 
but  he  was  convicted  of  being  a  spy,  and  was  hanged, 
this  being  the  military  punishment  for  that  offence, 


THE    REMAINDER    OF    THE    WAR. 


211 


Arnold,  meanwhile,  escaped  to  the  British  lines,  and 
afterwards  joined  the  British  army.  He  aided  in  fight 
ing  against  his  own  countrymen,  was  made  a  brigadier- 
general,  and  had  a  large  reward  in  money  ;  but  he  was 
generally  despised,  avoided,  and  insulted. 

The  friendship  of  France  had  been  very  encouraging 
to  the  Americans ;  but  the  French  army  had  not  done 
much  direct  service  thus  far,  though  Count  Rocham- 
beau  had  landed 
at  Newport,  R.I., 
in  1780,  with  six 
thousand  men. 
But  the  war  closed 
with  one  great  vic 
tory,  in  which  the 
French  played  a 
very  important 
part.  It  was  at 
Yorktown,  Va., 
where  General 
Corn  wall  is  had 
made  his  head 
quarters.  General 
Washington  was 
there  with  American  troops,  and  Count  Rochambeau 
with  a  corps  of  French  soldiers,  while  Admiral  de 
Grasse  blockaded  York  River.  After  ten  days'  siege, 
when  some  of  his  most  important  works  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  American  artillery,  Lord  Cornwallis 
planned  to  leave  Yorktown  at  night,  to  cross  York 
River,  and  retreat  to  New  York.  A  storm  prevented  ; 
and  he  surrendered  to  Washington. 


LORD   CORNWALLIS. 


212  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 

On  Oct.  19,  1781,  the  allied  armies,  French  and 
American,  were  drawn  up  in  two  columns  outside  York- 
town,  with  Washington  and  Rochambeau,  on  horse 
back,  at  their  head ;  and  between  them  the  conquered 
troops  marched  out,  and  laid  down  their  arms.  There 
were  about  seven  thousand  British  troops,  and  some 
sixteen  thousand  French  and  American.  Even  now, 
in  some  country-militia  musters,  the  soldiers  go  through 
the  forms  of  that  surrender,  and  call  the  military  per 
formance  "a  Cornwallis."  Great  was  the  joy  which 
followed  ;  and  those  who  were  awake  that  night  in 
Philadelphia  heard  the  watchmen  cry,  "  Past  two  o'clock, 
and  Cornwallis  is  taken ! "  On  hearing  the  news, 
Congress  recommended  a  day  of  thanksgiving  to 
be  observed  throughout  the  States ;  and  Washington 
ordered  the  liberation  of  all  persons  under  arrest  for 
any  offence,  that  all  might  share  in  the  general  joy. 

Well  might  the  Americans  rejoice  ;  for  all  men  felt 
that  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  decided  the  result  of 
the  war.  It  was  a  war  that  had  lasted  nearly  seven  years, 
and  cost  Great  Britain  a  hundred  million  pounds  ster 
ling,  and  fifty  thousand  lives,  besides  depriving  that 
nation  of  the  very  colonies  for  whose  taxation  the  war 
was  waged.  It  was  a  war,  in  the  words  of  the  great 
English  statesman,  Mr.  Pitt,  "  which  was  conceived  in 
injustice,  nurtured  in  folly,  and  whose  footsteps  were 
marked  with  slaughter  and  devastation."  It  had  also 
cost  the  Americans  untold  suffering ;  but  they  knew 
that  the  end  was  worth  the  sacrifice.  There  was  more 
fighting,  here  and  there,  after  the  surrender  of  Corn 
wallis  ;  and  the  British  held,  for  nearly  two  years  more, 
the  cities  of  New  York,  Charleston,  and  Savannah. 


.      THE    REMAINDER    OF    THE    WAR.  213 

But  no  extensive  campaign  took  place  ;  and  at  last,  on 
Sept.  3,  1783,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Paris,  between  the 
English  and  American  commissioners,  by  which  was 
established  all  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
had  proclaimed  •  and  the  new  nation,  called  "  The 
United  States  of  America,"  took  its  place  among  the 
governments  of  the  earth. 


// 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

AFTER   THE   WAR. 

ON  the  3d  of  November,  1783,  the  Revolutionary 
army  was  disbanded.  At  the  end  of  the  long 
struggle,  the  American  Colonies  were  left  very  poor ; 
and  their  money  had  so  declined  in  value,  that  it  took 
a  hundred  paper  dollars  to  buy  a  pair  of  shoes.  The 
discharged  soldiers  of  the  army  were  so  destitute  and 
so  dissatisfied,  that  it  took  all  General  Washington's 
influence  to  quiet  them.  People  had  to  be  taxed  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  the  government ;  and  yet  many 
had  not  money  to  pay  their  taxes ;  and  a  rebellion 
broke  out  in  Massachusetts,  called  "  Shay's  Rebellion," 
composed  of  men  who  thought  that  no  taxes  or  debts 
ought  to  be  paid  at  such  a  time.  All  this  was  very 
alarming,  and  convinced  the  Americans  that  they 
needed  a  stronger  government  than  the  mere  league 
which  they  had  formed  in  1777,  and  which  had  carried 
them  through  the  war.  The  trouble  with  the  govern 
ment  had  been,  all  along,  that  the  colonies  were  jealous 
of  each  other,  and  especially  the  smaller  of  the  larger ; 
and  so  they  had  all  wished  to  give  the  "  Confederation," 
as  it  had  been  called,  just  as  little  power  as  they  could. 
They  were  so  afraid  that  their  government  would  be 
tyrannical,  that  they  had  hardly  given  Congress  any 
214 


AFTER   THE   WAR.  215 

means  of  action.  Congress  was  not  authorized  to  raise 
money  by  taxes,  or  to  fix  the  rates  of  duties  on  foreign 
goods  imported,  or  to  compel  obedience  to  any  law. 
It  was  found  that  foreign  countries  did  not  like  to 
make  treaties  with  such  a  loose  and  feeble  government. 
Washington  said,  "  We  are  one  nation  to-day,  and 
thirteen  to-morrow :  who  will  treat  with  us  on  these 
terms  ? " 

It  was  perceived  that  this  would  never  do  ;  and  so 
a  convention  of  delegates  was  called,  to  meet  in  the 
State  House  at  Philadelphia,  in  order  to  decide  upon 
a  new  constitution,  and  make,  if  possible,  a  stronger 
government,  without  doing  harm  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people.  There  was  a  long  discussion,  lasting  many 
weeks,  in  this  convention;  but  at  last,  on  Sept.  17, 
1787,  the  present  Constitution  was  adopted.  It  had 
still  to  be  accepted  by  the  different  States,  and  there 
was  a  good  deal  of  opposition  to  it ;  while  it  was  very 
strongly  urged  by  Alexander  Hamilton  and  others,  in  a 
celebrated  series  of  papers,  called  "The  Federalist." 
However,  ten  of  the  thirteen  States  agreed  to  it  almost 
immediately;  so  that  it  went  into  effect  in  1788.  Of 
the  three  which  remained,  New  York  accepted  the  Con 
stitution  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  first  presidential 
election,  that  same  year.  North  Carolina  accepted  it 
during  the  year  following ;  and  Rhode  Island,  last  of 
all,  in  the  year  after  that  (1790).  Thus  the  old  "Con 
federation  "  ended,  and  the  new  "Union "  began.  The 
Confederation  had  changed  the  Colonies  into  inde 
pendent  States ;  and  the  Union  now  united  these 
States  into  a  single  nation.  The  nation  has  governed 
itself,  ever  since,  under  the  Constitution  then  adopted, 


21(5  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED   STATES. 

although  some  amendments  have  been  made  to  it  from 
time  to  time.  N\ 

There  were  great  celebrations  over  all  the  country 
when  the  new  Constitution  went  into  effect,  and  the 
new  nation  began  to  exist.  In  Philadelphia,  for  in 
stance,  there  was  a  procession  of  five  thousand  people, 
representing  all  trades  and  pursuits.  Such  a  procession 
of  trades  was  then  quite  a  new  thing  ;  and  it  was  thought 
to  show  the  difference  between  republican  and  monar 
chical  government ;  because  in  Europe,  at  that  time, 
all  triumphal  processions  were  almost  wholly  military 
in  their  character.  In  the  procession  there  were  figures 
in  emblematical  costumes,  representing  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  the  French  Alliance,  the  Treaty 
of  Peace,  and  so  on.  The  Constitution  was  repre 
sented  by  a  lofty  car,  in  the  shape  of  an  eagle,  drawn 
by  six  horses.  The  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  sat  in 
this  car,  bearing  the  Constitution,  framed,  and  fixed 
upon  a  staff,  which  was  crowned  with  the  cap  of  liberty, 
and  was  inscribed  in  gold  letters  "  The  People."  Then 
a  carriage,  drawn  by  ten  white  horses,  supported  the 
model  of  a  building  representing  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  ;  its  roof  being  upheld  by  thirteen  columns. 
Three  of  these  were  left  unfinished,  to  represent  the 
States  that  had  not  yet  ratified  the  Constitution  ;  and 
ten  were  finished,  to  represent  the  States  that  had  al 
ready  joined.  There  were  also  ten  ships  along  the 
river,  with  flags  and  gilt  inscriptions,  in  honor  of  these 
ten  States.  The  clergy  of  the  city  walked  in  the  pro 
cession  ;  and  the  Jewish  rabbi  went  between  two  Chris 
tian  ministers,  to  show  that  the  new  Republic  was 
founded  on  principles  of  religious  toleration. 


AFTER    THE    WAR.  2IJ 

George  Washington  was  chosen  the  first  President  of 
the- ftejinWic,  and  John  Adams  as  Vice-President.  New 
York  was  to  be  the  seat  of  government ;  and  as  Wash 
ington  travelled  thither  from  his  home  in  Virginia,  he 
had  enthusiastic  greetings  everywhere.  At  Trenton, 
for  instance,  where  he  had  formerly  fought  several  bat 
tles,  he  found  a  triumphal  arch  thrown  across  a  bridge 


RECEPTION  OF  WASHINGTON   AT   TRENTON. 

which  he  was  to  pass.  It  was  the  very  bridge  over 
which  he  had  once  retreated  before  the  army  of  Corn- 
wallis.  The  arch  was  supported  on  thirteen  pillars, 
was  wreathed  with  flowers,  and  bore  the  inscription, 
"  The  Defender  of  the  Mothers  will  be  the  Preserver  of 
the  Daughters."  Beneath  this  arch  stood  a  party  of 
young  girls,  with  baskets  of  flowers  in  their  hands  ;  and 
they  sang  this  song  as  Washington  drew  near  :  — 


218  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

"  Welcome,  mighty  chief,  once  more, 
Welcome  to  this  grateful  shore  : 
Now  no  mercenary  foe 
Aims  again  the  fatal  blow,  — 
Aims  at  thee  the  fatal  blow. 

Virgins  fair,  and  matrons  grave, 
Those  thy  conquering  arm  did  save, 
Build  for  thee  triumphal  bowers  : 
Strew,  ye  fair,  his  way  with  flowers  !  — 
Strew  your  hero's  way  with  flowers  !  " 

Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  they  strewed  before 
him  the  flowers  from  their  baskets. 

As  he  approached  New  York,  a  delegation  was  sent 
out  to  meet  him.  A  barge  was  provided  with  a  crew  of 
thirteen,  wearing  white  uniforms,  this  number  being 
chosen  to  represent  the  thirteen  colonies;  and  many 
other  boats  joined  in  procession,  with  flags  flying.  The 
governor  of  the  State  and  many  others  were  in  waiting 
at  the  wharf,  and  escorted  Washington,  amid  great 
enthusiasm,  to  his  quarters.  Carriages  were  provided, 
but  he  preferred  to  walk ;  and  the  procession  passed 
through  the  streets,  while  handkerchiefs  were  waved, 
and  flowers  were  strewed  in  the  way.  Some  days  after, 
the  ceremony  of  inauguration  took  place  on  the  balcony 
of  what  was  then  the  senate-chamber.  It  was  a  hall 
called  "  Federal  Hall,"  which  stood  at  the  meeting  of 
four  streets ;  and  these  streets  were  so  crowded,  that, 
as  an  eye-witness  said,  "  It  seemed  as  if  one  might  lit 
erally  walk  on  the  heads  of  the  people."  When  Wash 
ington  came  forth  upon  the  balcony,  the  chancellor  of 
New  York  read  the  inaugural  oath  to  him,  and  he 
repeated  it.  After  the  oath  was  administered,  there 
was  a  cry  of  "  Long  live  George  Washington,  President 


AFTER   THE   WAR.  219 

of  the  United  States ! "  to  which  the  assembled  crowd 
replied  with  shouts  of  enthusiasm.  Then  a  flag  was 
raised  on  the  cupola  of  the  hall,  and  there  was  a  gen 
eral  discharge  of  artillery,  and  pealing  of  bells.  Thus 
was  the  new  Republic  fully  organized  at  last,  with  a 
chief  magistrate  who  had  the  respect  and  love  of  the 
whole  people.  This  was  April  30,  1789. 


, 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

.  WASHINGTON   AND  ADAMS. 

BUT  Washington  and  those  who  aided  him  in  the 
American  Government  had  need  of  all  their  wis 
dom,  and  of  all  the  public  confidence,  amid  the  duties 
that  were  to  be  done.  The  affairs  of  the  United  States 
were  found  to  be  in  most  alarming  condition.  The 
nation  was  very  much  in  debt ;  people  were  very  unwill 
ing  to  pay  taxes ;  the  Indians  were  hostile  ;  the  pirates 
of  the  Barbary  States  often  attacked  American  ships  j 
and  the  relations  of  the  new  government  with  England, 
France,  and  Spain,  were  all  very  unsatisfactory.  But 
within  a  few  years  all  was  changed.  The  money-matters 
were  put  on  a  sound  basis  ;  the  rioters  and  the  Indians 
were  subdued  ;  and  treaties  were  made  with  Algiers, 
Spain,  and  England.  This  last  treaty  was  made  in 
1794,  by  John  Jay,  and  was  very  much  opposed  by 
many  people,  because  it  was  thought  to  be  too  favora 
ble  to  England  ;  but  it  was  at  last  ratified,  and  there 
was  a  period  of  peace  between  the  two  nations. 

During  all  this  prosperity  the  affairs  of  France  still 
gave  the  United  States  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  There 
had  been  in  France  a  great  revolution,  which  the  success 
of  the  American  struggle  had  helped  to  bring  about. 
The  old  French  monarchy  had  been  overthrown  ;  and 


WASHINGTON    AND   ADAMS.  221 

an  attempt  had  been  made  to  set  up  a  republic  in  its 
place.  Unhappily  this  attempt  had  led  to  terrible 
violence  and  bloodshed.  All  this  made  much  excite 
ment  in  the  United  States,  because  France  had  been 
the  great  ally  of  America  during  the  Revolutionary 
War ;  and,  moreover,  the  French  seemed  to  be  trying  to 
do  just  what  the  Americans  had  done,  though  the 
attempt  ended  very  differently  in  the  two  cases.  So 
there  was  in  the  United  States  a  very  strong  party 
which  sympathized  heartily  with  the  French  Revolu 
tion  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  another  strong 
party,  composed  of  those  who  were  afraid  of  French 
example  and  French  influence,  and  who  wished  the 
United  States  Government  to  resemble  the  English 
Government  as  much  as  possible.  These  admirers  of 
England  were  commonly  called  "  Federalists  "  in  those 
days  ;  while  those  who  sympathized  with  France  were 
called  "Republicans,"  and  afterwards  "Democrats." 
Washington,  Hamilton,  and  John  Adams  were  con 
sidered  Federalists  ;  while  Jefferson  and  Samuel  Adams 
were  Democrats. 

This  difference  between  the  two  parties  showed  itself 
even  in  regard  to  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the 
government,  and  the  style  of  living  among  public 
officers.  The  Federalists  were  afraid  that  the  new 
government  would  not  command  respect  enough  ;  and 
they  wished  to  see  a  good  deal  of  formality,  and  even 
of  elegance.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Democrats  feared 
that  the  new  government  would  become  too  power 
ful  ;  that  it  would  destroy  the  rights  of  the  States ;  and 
that  it  would  become  too  costly  and  aristocratic,  as 
in  European  nations.  President  Washington's  way  of 


222  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED    STATES. 

living  was  complained  of  as  too  showy  and  expensive  ; 
and  it  certainly  would  seem  so  to  us,  although,  in  those 
days,  the  habits  of  society  were  different,  and  these 
things  attracted  less  attention.  When,  for  instance,  it 
was  doubted  by  what  official  name  the  president  should 
be  called,  Washington  was  himself  in  favor  of  the  words, 
"  High  Mightiness,"  —  the  words  used  to  describe  the 
Stadtholder  of  Holland ;  that  State  being  then  a  repub 
lic.  This  phrase  was,  however,  rejected  ;  and  the  more 
moderate  title,  "  Excellency,"  was  substituted.  Again : 
when  Washington  drove  to  the  sessions  of  Congress,  he 
went  in  a  state-coach,  of  which  the  body  was  in  the 
shape  of  a  hemisphere,  cream-colored,  bordered  with 
flowers  round  the  panels,  and  ornamented  with  figures 
representing  cupids,  and  supporting  festoons.  On  great 
occasions  the  coach  was  drawn  by  six  horses ;  on  ordi 
nary  occasions,  by  four ;  and  on  Sundays,  by  two  only. 
The  driver  and  postilions  wore  liveries  of  white  and 
scarlet. 

President  Washington  held  levees,  or  receptions,  once 
a  fortnight,  in  his  own  house.  At  precisely  three  in 
the  afternoon  the  doors  of  the  great  dining-room  were 
thrown  open  ;  and  the  guests  who  were  admitted  saw 
the  president  standing  before  the  fireplace,  with  mem 
bers  of  his  cabinet  or  other  eminent  men  around  him. 
On  these  occasions  he  was  usually  dressed  in  black 
velvet,  with  white  or  pearl-colored  waistcoat,  yellow 
gloves,  and  silver  knee-buckles  and  shoe-buckles.  His 
hair  was  powdered,  and  gathered  into  a  silk  bag  behind. 
He  carried  a  cocked  hat  in  his  hand,  and  wore  a  long 
sword  with  a  scabbard  of  polished  white  leather.  He 
\iever  shook  hands  with  his  guests,  but  bowed  to  each 


WASHINGTON   AND   ADAMS.  223 

when  introduced,  and  afterwards  had  a  little  conversa 
tion  with  each.  Mrs.  Washington,  also,  had  evening 
levees,  at  which  every  one  appeared  in  full  dress.  The 
birthday  of  the  president  was  celebrated  by  dinners 
and  public  meetings  in  ail  the  large  towns  of  the 
nation,  as  the  birthday  of  the  king  of  England  had 
been  before  celebrated  ;  and  on  these  occasions  odes 
were  often  addressed  to  Washington  by  poets.  All  these 
things  were  believed  by  many  people  to  have  an  impor 
tant  influence  in  adding  dignity  and  decorum  to  the 
young  Republic.  Others,  however,  thought  that  harm 
was  done  by  this  imitation  of  the  customs  prevailing  in 
monarchies  ;  and  such  persons  accused  Washington  of 
too  much  etiquette  and  ostentation. 

It  must  be  remembered,  that,  in  all  classes  of  society, 
there  was  then  more  formality  than  now,  and  that  the 
display  of  elegant  costumes  was  much  greater.  The 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  winter  wore  robes  of 
scarlet  faced  with  velvet,  and  in  summer  wore  very 
full  black  silk  robes,  as  is  still  their  practice.  Clergy 
men  wore  wigs,  with  gown  and  bands,  in  the  pulpit, 
and  cocked  hats  in  the  street.  In  private  life,  there 
was  much  the  same  style  of  dress  after  the  Revolution 
as  before,  although,  for  a  time,  people  were  poorer. 
Ladies  wore  those  beautiful  silks  and  brocades  which 
are  still  preserved  as  heirlooms  in  many  American 
families  ;  and  their  hair  was  dressed  with  powder  and 
pomatum,  and  often  built  up  to  a  great  height  above  the 
head.  The  hair-dressers  were  kept  so  busy  on  the  day 
of  any  fashionable  entertainment,  that  ladies  sometimes 
had  to  employ  their  services  at  four  or  five  in  the 
morning,  and  had  to  sit  upright  all  the  rest  of  the  day, 


224  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED   STATES. 

in  order  to  avoid  disturbing  the  head-dress.  Gentle 
men  had  a  great  variety  of  color  in  their  clothes,  and 
employed  a  richness  of  material,  such  as  only  ladies 
now  display.  "  If  a  gentleman  went  abroad,  he  ap 
peared  in  his  wig,  white  stock,  white  satin  embroidered 
vest,  black  satin  small-clothes  with  white  silk  stockings, 
and  fine  broadcloth  or  velvet  coat :  if  at  home,  a  velvet 
cap,  sometimes  with  a  fine  linen  one  under  it,  took  the 
place  of  the  wig ;  while  a  gown,  frequently  of  colored 
damask,  lined  with  silk,  was  substituted  for  the  coat, 
and  the  feet  were  covered  with  leather  slippers  of  some 
fancy  color."  Gentlemen  took  snuff  almost  universally 
in  those  days ;  and  a  great  deal  of  expense  and  beauty 
was  often  lavished  on  a  snuff-box.  To  take  snuff  with 
one  another  was  as  much  a  matter  of  courtesy  as  the 
lifting  of  the  hat.  i  V 

The  theatre  was  only  just  beginning  to  be  publicly 
tolerated  ;  but  private  theatricals  sometimes  took  place  ; 
and  Washington  occasionally  had  them  at  his  own 
house.  Concerts  of  music  were  allowed ;  and  balls 
were  sometimes  given  on  a  very  large  scale,  especially 
by  foreign  ambassadors.  At  one  of  these  given  in 
Philadelphia  by  the  French  Ambassador,  a  building 
was  erected  on  purpose  for  the  entertainment.  There 
were  seven  hundred  guests,  and  ten  thousand  spectators 
were  collected  in  the  street  outside.  Ladies  and  gen 
tlemen  went  to  balls  in  sedan-chairs  ;  the  guests  arriv 
ing  between  seven  and  eight  The  dances  were  chiefly 
minuets  and  contra-darvces ;  quadrilles  being  only  just 
introduced.  At  the  first  Inauguration  Ball,  a  quantity 
of  fans,  ordered  from  Paris  for  the  purpose,  were  dis 
tributed  among  the  ladies.  These  fans  were  of  ivory 


WASHINGTON    AND    ADAMS.  225 

and  paper;  and  each  bore  a  medallion  portrait  of  Gen 
eral  Washington. 

While  this  was  the  way  of  living  among  the  more 
fashionable  classes  of  society,  the  people  at  large  were 
gradually  recovering  from  the  losses  of  war,  and  were 
engaging  in  various  branches  of  industry.  War  is  apt 
to  unsettle  the  habits  of  a  people ;  but  most  of  the  dis 
charged  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  went  willingly  back 
to  their  farms  and  workshops,  and  were  proud  of  hav 
ing  established  a  republic  where  there  was  liberty  and 
also  law.  Many  were  for  a  time  very  poor ;  but  there 
were  few  beggars  to  be  seen,  —  so  few  as  to  surprise 
foreign  travellers.  The  chief  occupations  of  the  peo 
ple  were  agriculture  and  commerce,  together  with  hunt 
ing  and  fishing.  There  were  as  yet  neither  cotton-mills 
nor  woollen-mills  ;  and  very  few  of  the  varied  modern 
mechanical  inventions  had  yet  been  introduced.  In 
the  country,  people  still  had  great  open  fires  of  wood, 
still  burned  tallow  candles  of  their  own  making,  and 
wore  homespun  garments.  Even  people  in  the  cities 
were  not  far  from  the  wilderness;  and  the  gun  and 
fishing-rod  were  to  be  found  in  most  houses,  even  in 
the  Eastern  States ;  while  at  the  South,  there  were 
hardly  any  large  towns  at  all,  and  the  Far  West  was  as 
yet  unexplored  by  the  English  colonists,  and  was  only 
known  by  the  Canadian  French.  N\ 

During  the  administration  of  Washington,  a  most  im 
portant  invention  was  made,  which  was  destined  to  have 
great  influence  on  American  history.  When  the  first 
European  explorers  came  to  the  American  Continent, 
they  found  growing  wild,  in  its  southern  parts,  a  plant 
called  cotton.  It  had  already  been  used  in  other 
'5 


226  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED    STATES. 

parts  of  the  world ;  its  fine  fibre,  or  down,  being  spun 
into  cloth.  It  was  easy  enough  to  raise  cotton ;  but 
the  great  trouble  was  to  separate  the  seed  from  the 
fibre,  which  was  called  "ginning"  it.  It  had  to  be 
done  by  hand,  and  it  took  a  whole  day  to  gin  a  pound. 
Finally  an  ingenious  young  man  from  Massachusetts, 
named  Eli  Whitney,  who  had  just  graduated  at  Yale 
College,  went  to  Georgia  to  teach  school ;  and  a 
lady,  Mrs.  Greene,  in  whose  family  he  was  living,  and 
who  had  seen  how  skilfully  he  made  toys  for  her 
children,  begged  him  to  invent  a  machine  for  ginning 
cotton.  He  had  never  even  seen  the  cotton-seed  ;  but 
he  walked  to  Savannah,  got  some  of  the  seed,  and 
tried  experiments  in  machinery.  He  could  not  even 
buy  tools  or  wire  in  that  region,  but  had  to  make  them 
for  himself.  This  was  in  1792.  At  last,  with  great 
difficulty,  he  made  a  rude  machine,  and  showed  it  to 
his  friend,  Mrs.  Greene,  who  invited  the  leading  cot 
ton-planters  to  examine  it.  All  saw  at  once  that  it  was 
to  be  successful  ;  but,  before  it  could  be  finished,  the 
building  in  which  he  worked  was  broken  open  by  night, 
and  the  machine  was  carried  off.  Other  machines  were 
made  from  it ;  and  it  was  long  before  the  inventor  could 
get  any  compensation  for  his  labor.  After  this  in 
vention  was  perfected,  the  cultivation  and  manufacture 
of  cotton  at  once  grew  up  to  immense  importance  ;  and 
American  cotton  supplied  the  world,  which  never  could 
have  been  the  case  but  for  some  such  invention  as  that 
of  Eli  Whitney. 

Soon  after  Washington  became  president,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  Americans  died,  —  one  of  those 
who  had  rendered  the  greatest  services  to  the  liberty 


WASHINGTON    AND    ADAMS. 


227 


of  their  country.  This  was  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin. 
He  was  born  in  Boston,  in  1706,  and  was  the  son  of  a 
poor  tallow-chandler.  When  a  boy  he  learned  the 
printer's  trade  ;  and  at  seventeen  left  home,  and  estab 
lished  himself  in  Philadelphia.  He  and  a  young  part 
ner  began  busi 
ness  with  no  capi 
tal,  and  felt  very 
grateful  to  a  friend 
whom  they  met  in 
the  street,  who 
gave  them  a  five- 
shilling  job.  Then 
they  set  up  a  news 
paper,  and  pub 
lished  an  alma 
nac,  called  "  Poor 
Richard's  Alma 
nack,"  which  had 
a  great  circula 
tion.  They  also 
dealt  in  all  sorts 
of  small  wares,  — 

ragS,      ink,       SOap,  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

feathers,  coffee.  Franklin  was  a  great  reader,  and  a 
great  student  of  the  sciences,  especially  of  electricity ; 
and  he  formed  the  theory  that  lightning  and  the  electrical 
fluid  were  the  same  thing.  This  he  said  in  a  pamphlet ; 
and  some  readers  thought  it  a  very  absurd  view.  Then 
he  resolved  to  prove  it ;  and  he  and  his  young  son  made 
a  great  kite  of  a  silk  handkerchief,  fastened  a  piece  of 
sharpened  wire  to  the  stick,  and  went  out  to  fly  the  kite 


228  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED    STATES. 

in  a  thunder-storm.  As  the  low  thunder-cloud  passed, 
the  electric  fluid  came  down  the  string  of  the  kite ; 
and,  when  Franklin  touched  a  key  that  he  had  fastened 
to  the  string,  his  knuckles  drew  sparks  from  it,  and 
proved  that  there  was  electricity  there.  This  led  him 
to  invent  the  lightning-rod,  which  is  now  in  such  uni 
versal  use,  and  draws  down  the  electricity  from  the 
cloud,  on  the  same  principle.  This  discovery  at  once 
made  him  very  famous  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  America. 
He  was  afterwards  sent  to  England  on  a  public  mission, 
and  remained  there  till  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution. 
Returning  to  America,  he  was  one  of  the  framers  and 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  After 
wards  he  was  sent  ambassador  to  France,  and  aided 
in  making  the  treaty  with  France  which  secured  the 
independence  of  the  American  Colonies.  He  was  a 
man  of  the  greatest  activity,  public  spirit,  and  wit.  He 
had  a  most  important  influence  in  all  public  affairs, 
and  founded  more  good  institutions  and  benevolent 
enterprises  than  any  American  of  his  time.  His  last 
public  act  was  to  sign  a  memorial  to  Congress, 
in  behalf  of  the  Philadelphia  Antislavery  Society,  of 
which  he  was  president,  asking  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
He  lived  to  be  eighty-four,  dying  April  17,  1790.  The 
whole  nation  mourned  when  he  died  ;  and  Mirabeau, 
then  the  leader  of  the  French  Assembly,  called  him 
"  the  sage  whom  two  worlds  claim  as  their  own,"  and 
proposed  that  the  Assembly  should  wear  mourning  on 
the  arm  for  him,  during  three  days,  which  was  done. 
It  was  said  of  him,  after  his  death,  by  a  celebrated 
Frenchman,  Turgot,  that  "  he  snatched  the  lightning 
from  the  sky,  and  the  sceptre  from  tyrants." 


WASHINGTON    AND    ADAMS.  22Q 

During  Washington's  administration,  several  new 
States  were  added  to  the  original  thirteen.  The  first 
of  these  was  Vermont,  in  1791.  Vermont  had  been 
first  settled  by  pioneers,  to  whom  the  governor  of  New 
Hampshire  had  granted  lands,  —  hardy  men,  who  lived 
by  cutting  down  the  forests,  and  by  establishing  iron- 
furnaces.  After  a  time  New  York  claimed  this  terri 
tory,  and  tried  to  drive  out  the  settlers.  They  resisted, 
and  sent  Ethan  Allen,  their  leader,  to  remonstrate 
with  the  New  York  legislature.  The  legislature  treated 
the  demands  of  the  settlers  with  contempt ;  upon 
which  Ethan  Allen  went  away,  defying  them,  and  said 
in  the  words  of  the  Bible,  "  Our  gods  are  gods  of  the 
hills :  therefore  they  are  stronger  than  yours."  Then 
New  York  sent  officers  to  drive  out  the  settlers  ;  but 
the  "  Green  Mountain  Boys,"  as  they  began  to  be 
called,  resisted.  If  any  one  attempted  to  eject  them 
from  their  settlements,  he  was  seized,  tied  to  a  tree,  and 
whipped  with  beechen  rods  ;  which  process  they  called 
"  applying  the  beech  seal."  Large  rewards  were  offered 
for  the  arrest  of  Ethan  Allen,  Seth  Warner,  and  others, 
but  to  no  avail.  When  the  Revolution  broke  out,  the 
"  Green  Mountain  Boys  "  wished  to  join  the  Provincial 
Congress ;  but  New  York  objected  to  this,  and  they 
were  excluded.  However,  they  distinguished  them 
selves  very  much  during  the  Revolution,  and  were 
admitted  soon  after  the  Union  had  been  formed ; 
taking  for  their  settlement  the  name  of  Vermont,  which 
signifies  "  Green  Mountain." 

Then  Kentucky  came  into  the  Union  in  1792. 
This  region  was  at  first  considered  as  a  part  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  was  only  explored  a  short  time  before  the 


230  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

American  Revolution.  The  first  explorer  was  Daniel 
Boone,  a  famous  hunter  and  pioneer.  He  used  to 
penetrate  the  wildest  regions  with  small  parties  of 
men,  to  hunt  and  trap  wild  animals  for  the  furs,  and  to 
make  salt  at  the  famous  "  Salt  Licks,"  or  springs.  He 
built  forts,  and  sometimes  held  them  for  several  days, 
with  his  few  men,  against  much  larger  bodies  of  Indi 
ans.  Once  he  was  carried  away  a  prisoner,  and  adopted 
into  an  Indian  family,  but  at  last  made  his  escape. 
After  his  adventures  were  made  known,  settlers  rapidly 
flocked  in,  coming  mostly  from  the  lower  parts  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  bringing  their  slaves  with  them.  They  were 
stoutly  resisted  by  the  Indians  ;  and  a  long  series  of 
conflicts  followed,  from  which  came  the  name  by  which 
that  region  was  long  known,  "  The  Dark  and  Bloody 
Ground."  The  Spanish  Government  tried  at  one  time 
to  induce  the  Kentuckians  to  declare  themselves  inde 
pendent  of  the  Union,  and  then  to  join  Louisiana, 
which  still  belonged  to  Spain.  But  all  these  efforts 
failed,  and  the  "  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground  "  became 
one  of  the  United  States.  The  name  Kentucky  is  said 
to  mean  "  Long  River." 

Tennessee  came  into  the  Union  next,  in  1796.  This 
part  of  the  country  had  been  explored  much  earlier 
than  Kentucky,  and  had,  probably,  been  visited  by  De 
Soto  long  before  the  settlement  of  the  more  eastern 
States.  De  Soto  was  probably  the  first  European  to 
conduct  a  party  of  men  to  the  Mississippi  River,  or 
the  "  Hidden  River,"  or  "  Inland  Sea,"  as  it  was  then 
often  called  ;  and  he  had  marched  with  his  troops  and 
cannon,  for  weeks,  through  wildernesses  before  unex 
plored.  When  he  died  of  fever  at  last,  in  1542,  his 


WASHINGTON    AND    ADAMS.  231 

soldiers  wished  to  secure  his  remains  against  the  Indi 
ans  :  so  they  hollowed  the  trunk  of  an  old  tree,  placed 
his  body  in  it,  and  sunk  it  in  a  deep  part  of  the  Missis 
sippi  River.  But,  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  that  part 
of  the  country  was  almost  unvisited  by  white  men,  and 
the  land  was  occupied  more  slowly  than  in  Kentucky. 
The  settlers  came  chiefly  from  North  Carolina  ;  and  for 
a  time  their  settlements  were  considered  a  part  of  that 
colony.  At  one  time  the  people  became  dissatisfied, 
and  tried  to  establish  a  separate  State,  under  the  name 
of  Franklin ;  but  the  project  was  given  up,  and,  after 
various  changes,  that  whole  region  was  admitted  as  one 
of  the  United  States  under  the  name  of  Tennessee  ;  this 
being  the  Indian  name  for  the  principal  river  that  flows 
through  it.  The  settlers  had  brought  their  slaves  with 
them  ;  so  that  Tennessee,  also,  was  a  slave  State. 

Thus,  at  the  end  of  Washington's  administration, 
there  were  sixteen  States  in  the  Union.  There  was 
also  the  "  North-west  Territory,"  as  it  was  called,  not 
yet  organized  into  States,  —  the  whole  wide  region 
between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  from  which 
slavery  had  been  forever  excluded  by  a  law  passed  by 
Congress  in  1787.  The  first  census  of  the  nation  was 
taken  in  1790  ;  and  the  population  was  about  four  mil 
lions  (3,929,214). 

Washington  served  two  terms,  or  eight  years,  and  then 
declined  a  re-election.  John  Adams  of  Massachusetts, 
who  had  been  vice-president,  was  the  second  president 
of  the  United  States  (1797-1801).  He  was  what  was 
called  a  Federalist,  and  was  chosen  by  a  small  majority 
over  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  belonged  to  the  opposite 
party.  It  was  the  law  in  those  days  that  the  candidate 


232 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 


who  came  second  in  the  presidential  election  should 
be  made  vice-president;  and  so  Mr.  Jefferson  was 
assigned  to  that  office  under  Mr.  Adams,  though  they 
differed  a  great  deal  in  their  politics.  President 
Adams  had  been  one  of  the  foremost  of  the  patriots 
from  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution.  He  had  after 
wards  assisted  in  framing  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  ;  and  he 
had  been  one  of 
the  ambassadors 
to  make  the  treaty 
with  France  at  the 
close  of  the  Rev 
olution.  He  was 
inaugurated  presi 
dent  at  Philadel 
phia,  to  which  city 
the  seat  of  govern 
ment  had  been  re 
moved.  Under  his 
administration  it 
was  removed 
thence  to  Wash 
ington,  to  a  site 
which  President  Washington  himself  had  selected. 

After  President  Adams  came  into  power,  the  trou 
bles  with  France  went  on  increasing.  Ambassadors 
had  been  sent  there  from  the  United  States  \  but  the 
French  Government  would  not  receive  them.  Then  it 
was  hinted  to  the  ambassadors  that  a  payment  of 
money  would  reconcile  France  ;  and  one  of  them 
answered,  "  Millions  for  defence,  not  a  cent  for  trib- 


JOHN    ADAMS. 


WASHINGTON    AND   ADAMS.  233 

ute."  It  was  Charles  C.  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina 
who  said  this  ;  and  the  sentiment  was  repeated  every 
where  through  the  United  States.  There  seemed  to 
be  great  prospect  of  another  war ;  and  General  Wash 
ington  was  called  from  his  quiet  home  in  Virginia,  to 
take  command  of  the  army.  There  were  some  sea- 
fights  between  French  and  American  vessels;  but, 
when  Napoleon  Bonaparte  came  into  power,  President 
Adams  succeeded  in  making  a  treaty  with  him,  in  1800; 
and  after  this  there  was  peace  with  France. 

But  there  had  to  be  an  increase  of  taxation  to  meet 
the  expense  of  these  preparations  for  war ;  and  this 
made  the  administration  of  President  Adams  unpopular 
with  many  people.  Some  laws  had  also  been  passed, 
called  "  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,"  which  were  very 
much  disliked,  because  they  gave  the  president  au 
thority  to  arrest  any  foreigner,  and  to  send  him  out  of 
the  country,  without  a  trial  ;  and  also  gave  unusual 
power  to  the  president  in  other  ways.  Great  as  Presi 
dent  Adams's  public  services  had  been,  he  was  made 
very  unpopular  by  these  laws ;  and  he  was  not  re- 
elected  for  a  second  term,  as  Washington  had  been. 
The  popular  vote  was  so  divided,  that  there  was  no 
choice  ;  and  the  House  of  Representatives,  which  had 
in  such  cases  the  right  of  deciding,  chose  Mr.  Jefferson 
as  president,  in  Mr.  Adams's  place. 

It  was  during  the  administration  of  President 
Adams,  that  General  Washington  died,  Dec.  14,  1799. 
There  had  b e e1rrimicTT^a?ty"DlFf^ni ess~(3unng  the  latter 
part  of  Washington's  administration ;  but  when  he 
died  the  whole  nation  mourned.  All  felt  how  much 
the  new  American  Republic  had  owed  to  his  courage, 


234  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

foresight,  truthfulness,  and  disinterestedness.  The 
resolutions  passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
declared  that  he  was  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and 
first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen."  This  was  very 
true  ;  and  the  phrase  has  become  almost  a  proverb  in 
speaking  of  Washington. 

No  new  States  were  admitted  into  the  Union  in 
President  Adams's  time ;  but  the  region  between 
Georgia  and  the  Mississippi  River  was  organized  into 
a  "  territory,"  and  began  to  be  settled.  It  comprised 
what  is  now  included  by  the  States  of  Mississippi  and 
Alabama.  None  of  the  vast  region  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  yet  belonged  to  the  United  States,  nor  did 
Florida.  Another  census  of  the  nation  was  taken  in 
1800  ;  and  the  population  had  risen  to  nearly  five  mil 
lions  and  a  half  (5,308,483). 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 


JEFFERSON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON  of  Virginia  was  the  third 
president  of  the  United  States,  and  served  two 
terms  (1801-1809).  He  was  well  known  as  having  been 
the  framer  of  the 
Declaration  of  In 
dependence,  and 
as  having  been 
vice-president  un 
der  John  Adams. 
He  represented 
the  Republican 
party,  as  it  was 
then  called,  or 
Democratic  party, 
as  it  was  after 
wards  called, — 
the  party  which 
sympathized  with 
France  rather  than 
with  England  in 
the  war  that  was 
going  on  between 
those  nations.  American  politics  turned  very  much  on 


236  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

this  war,  because  it  put  the  United  States  in  a  very  diffi 
cult  position.  Both  France  and  England  had  issued 
orders,  each  nation  forbidding  all  trade  with  the  other, 
and  claiming  the  right  to  confiscate  all  vessels  engaged 
in  such  trade.  Thus  every  American  vessel  on  the 
ocean  was  liable  to  capture  by  the  one  or  the  other  of 
these  two  nations ;  and,  whether  an  American  ship 
master  saw  the  English  or  the  French  flag,  he  tried 
equally  hard  to  keep  out  of  the  way,  for  fear  of  having 
his  vessel  seized,  and  his  crew  perhaps  imprisoned. 

Besides  this,  the  English  claimed  the  right  to  search 
American  vessels  to  see  if  there  were  any  English 
seamen  on  board,  and  to  take  any  such,  if  found ;  and 
several  hundred  men  were  thus  seized  in  the  course  of 
a  single  year.  It  even  happened,  once  or  twice,  that 
the  whole  crew  of  a  ship  was  taken,  and  the  vessel 
was  left  with  nobody  to  man  it.  Once  the  British  man- 
of-war  "  Leopard  "  attempted  to  search  the  American 
frigate  "  Chesapeake,"  for  deserters,  within  sight  of 
Fortress  Monroe  in  Virginia ;  and,  when  the  American 
commander  refused  to  submit,  his  ship  was  fired  upon, 
and  compelled  to  surrender  ;  and  four  men  were  carried 
away,  one  of  whom  was  hanged.  All  this  caused  the 
greatest  injury  to  American  commerce,  and  much  angry 
feeling  against  Great  Britain.  Then  Congress,  wishing 
to  punish  England  by  ceasing  to  trade  with  her,  laid, 
in  1807,  an  "  embargo,"  as  it  was  called,  or  prohibition, 
forbidding  American  shipping  from  leaving  American 
ports.  But  this  hurt  the  United  States,  in  the  end, 
much  more  than  it  hurt  England,  it  completed  the 
injury  that  other  causes  had  begun  ;  and  it  made  Presi 
dent  Jefferson  very  unpopular,  for  a  time,  with  Ameri 
can  merchants. 


JEFFERSON'S  ADMINISTRATION. 


237 


There  was  also  much  trouble  with  the  Barbary 
States,  along  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  These  States 
subsisted  by  piracy,  and  by  claiming  as  slaves  the 
crews  and  passengers  of  all  vessels  that  they  took.  It 
was  a  common  thing,  at  that  time,  for  notices  to  be 
read  in  American  churches  of  the  captivity  of  mem 
bers  of  the  church  in  Tripoli  or  Algiers.  Then  a  sum 
of  money  was  usually  raised  for  the  ransom  of  each,  — 
as  much  as  four  thousand  dollars  for  a  captain  or  a 
passenger.  Sometimes  these  sums  were  paid  by  sub 
scription,  and  sometimes  by  the  government.  Thou 
sands  of  Americans  were  thus  held  in  captivity ;  and 
millions  of  dollars  were  spent  for  ransom.  A  treaty 
was  made  with  these  Barbary  States,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  the  United  States  should  pay  a  certain 
amount  of  money  for 
the  protection  of  the 
national  commerce. 
Then  a  dispute  arose 
about  the  terms  of 
this  treaty ;  and  Pres 
ident  Jefferson  re 
solved  to  bear  this 
humiliation  no  long 
er.  The  American 
navy  consisted,  at 
that  time,  of  but  six 
vessels  ;  and  he  sent 
four  of  them  to  the 
Mediterranean.  One 
of  these,  the  frigate 
"Philadelphia,"  under  Captain  Bainbridge,  ran  aground 


LIEUTENANT    DECATUR. 


238 


YOUNG   FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 


in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  and  was  captured  ;  and  the 
crew  were  made  slaves.  A  young  lieutenant,  named 
Decatur,  proposed  to  the  commander  of  the  fleet  to 
take  command  of  a  Tripolitan  vessel  that  had  just  been 
captured,  put  an  American  crew  on  board,  enter  the 
harbor  by  night,  and  rescue  or  burn  the  "  Philadelphia." 
This  was  successfully  done.  The  little  Tripolitan  ves- 


DECATUR   BURNING   THE    "PHILADELPHIA." 

sel  came  quietly  in  beside  the  captured  frigate  ;  and 
Decatur  and  his  men  recaptured  her  in  ten  minutes. 
But  it  was  impossible  to  move  her  ;  and  in  a  few  min 
utes  the  "  Philadelphia  "  was  in  flames,  and  the  little 
vessel  of  Decatur  was  sailing  out  of  the  harbor  again, 
without  the  loss  of  a  man.  This  was  on  Feb.  15,  1804. 
Decatur  afterwards  distinguished  himself  in  some  des- 


JEFFERSON  S    ADMINISTRATION.  239 

perate  contests  with  the  Tripolitans ;  and  many  years 
later,  at  the  head  of  a  squadron,  he  so  intimidated 
all  the  Barbary  States,  that  they  never  afterwards 
demanded  tribute  of  Americans,  or  claimed  the  right 
to  hold  them  as  slaves.  /' 

Jefferson's  administration  was  conducted  on  a  system 
very  different,  in  some  respects,  from  those  of  Wash 
ington  and  Adams.  His  personal  habits  were  very 
simple,  and  so  were  his  views  of  government.  Instead 
of  going  in  a  coach-and-six  to  the  Capitol,  as  Washing 
ton  had  done,  Jefferson  rode  thither  on  horseback,  on 
the  day  of  his  inauguration,  dismounted,  tied  his  horse 
to  a  post,  and  read  his  address.  Afterwards  he  did  not 
do  even  this,  but  sent  a  "  message  "  to  Congress  by  a 
secretary,  as  has  been  the  practice  ever  since.  He 
abolished  the  weekly  levees,  but,  on  New  Year's  Day 
and  the  Fourth  of  July,  threw  open  his  doors  to  the 
whole  people.  He  would  not  have  his  birthday  cele 
brated,  as  had  been  the  previous  custom ;  but  concealed 
the  day  in  order  to  prevent  this.  He  reduced  the 
expenses  of  the  government  as  far  as  possible,  and  paid 
off  thirty-three  millions  of  debt.  He  believed  strongly 
in  universal  suffrage,  at  least  for  all  persons  of  the 
male  sex.  He  thought  that  all  men  had  a  natural 
right  to  vote  for  their  own  rulers,  and  his  party  sus 
tained  him  in  this  ;  while  the  Federal  party  looked  with 
great  distrust  on  the  system  of  government  by  popular 
vote,  and  believed  that  suffrage  should  be  very  care 
fully  limited.  We  must  remember  that  in  those  days  a 
republican  government  seemed,  even  to  many  patriotic 
Americans,  a  very  doubtful  experiment ;  while  Jefferson 
had  a  very  hearty  faith  in  it,  and  so  did  a  great  deal 


240  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

for  its  success.  But  party  spirit  ran  very  high  then ; 
and  there  has  been  a  great  division  of  opinion,  ever 
since,  as  to  the  wisdom  of  much  that  was  done  by 
Jefferson. 

^One  important  event  that  happened  during  Jeffer 
son's  administration  was  the  passage  of  a  law  forbid 
ding  the  African  slave-trade.  This  trade  had  existed 
ever  since  1619,  when  the  first  slaves  were  brought 
into  Virginia  ;  and  it  was  agreed,  when  the  Constitution 
was  formed,  that  there  should  be  no  interference  with 
the  slave-trade  until  Jan.  i,  1808.  More  than  a  year 
before  that  time,  President  Jefferson  called  the  atten 
tion  of  Congress  to  the  subject,  and  congratulated  the 
members  that  they  would  soon  be  able  to  forbid  a  traffic, 
"  which,"  he  said,  "  the  morality,  the  reputation,  and 
the  best  interests  of  the  country,  have  long  been  eager 
to  proscribe."  Then  arose  a  very  exciting  debate  in 
Congress.  No  one  was  in  favor  of  continuing  the  slave- 
trade,  but  there  were  great  differences  of  opinion  as  to 
the  way  of  putting  it  down ;  and  it  was,  moreover, 
pointed  out,  that,  if  it  was  right  to  hold  slaves  at  all,  it 
could  not  be  wrong  to  import  them.  At  last,  under  the 
lead  of  Josiah  Quincy  of  Massachusetts,  and  others,  a 
law  was  passed,  forbidding  the  importation  of  slaves 
from  any  foreign  country  into  the  United  States,  after 
the  year  1807.  In  spite  of  the  law,  however,  slaves 
were  secretly  imported  for  many  years,  until  treaties 
were  made  with  other  maritime  countries,  by  which  the 
slave-trade  was  declared  to  be  piracy,  and  the  navies  of 
different  nations  united  to  break  it  up.  But  the  slave- 
trade  between  the  States  of  the  American  Union,  not 
being  prohibited  by  law,  lasted  till  American  slavery 
itself  was  abolished  by  the  war  of  the  Rebellion. 


THE    FIRST   STEAMBOAT. 


241 


The  most  important  invention  made  in  America  dur 
ing  Jefferson's  administration  was  that  of  the  steam 
boat.  The  first  person  to  propose  it  was  Thomas 
Paine,  in  1778,  during  the  Revolution.  James  Ramsey 
in  1784  built  a  vessel  which  reached  a  speed  of  three  or 
four  miles  an  hour,  against  the  stream,  on  the  Potomac. 
John  Fitch  built  one,  soon  after,  that  was  employed  on 
the  Delaware ;  and 
he  predicted,  more 
over,  that  steamships 
would  one  day  cross 
the  Atlantic.  But 
these  steamboats 
were  not  at  all  like 
those  now  built ;  their 
engines  being  made 
upon  a  different  prin 
ciple.  The  first  boat 
constructed  on  the 
present  plan  was 
launched  upon  the 
Hudson,  by  Robert 
Fulton,  in  1807.  While  the  vessel  was  being  built,  it 
was  called  "  Fulton's  Folly,"  and  every  one  laughed  at 
it.  He  himself  wrote  that  no  one  had  ever  made  to 
him  a  single  encouraging  remark  about  it.  But,  before 
the  boat  had  gone  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  unbelievers  were 
converted  ;  and  the  people  who  had  collected  to  see 
the  experiment  began  to  shout  with  applause.  The 
vessel  was  named  the  "  Clermont,"  and  made  the  trip 
from  New  York  to  Albany,  at  the  rate  of  five  miles  an 
hour,  against  the  wind  and  tide.  As  it  moved,  it  sent 

16 


ROBERT    FULTON. 


242 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 


showers  of  sparks  into  the  air.  The  noise  of  ma 
chinery  and  paddles  was  very  great ;  and,  when  it  passed 
other  vessels,  their  sailors  sometimes  hid  themselves 
below  the  deck,  and  knelt,  praying  for  protection  from 
this  horrible  monster.  From  this  time  forward,  steam 
boats  rapidly  multiplied,  were  greatly  improved,  and 
were  soon  in  general  use ;  though  it  was  not  generally 
supposed,  for  a  long  time  after,  that  they  could  safely 
cross  the  ocean. 


THE    "CLERMONT." 

The  vice-president  under  President  Jefferson,  at  his 
first  election,  was  Aaron  Burr,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  men  of  that  period.  He  and  Jefferson 
had  precisely  the  same  number  of  votes  for  president ; 
so  that  the  House  of  Representatives  had  to  decide 
between  them,  as  was  the  rule  ;  and,  after  a  great  many 
ballotings,  Jefferson  was  chosen  president,  and  Burr 
vice-president.  Burr  had  distinguished  himself  as  a 
soldier  and  as  a  statesman  ;  but  he  lost  most  of  his 
popularity  after  he  had  killed,  in  a  duel,  his  political 
rival,  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  was  much  more  be 
loved  than  himself,  and  who  had  performed  an  im 
portant  part  in  establishing  the  government.  Through 


NULLIFICATION    IN    SOUTH   CAROLINA.  263 

were  altogether  too  favorable  to  Northern  manufactur 
ers  ;  and  finally  a  convention  was  held  in  the  State,  in 
1832,  to  plan  secession  from  the  Union.  It  was  decided 
that  no  duties  should  be  paid  in  South  Carolina  after  a 
certain  day;  and  that,  if  the  United  States  Government ' 
attempted  to  enforce  such  payment,  South  Carolina 
should  organize  a  separate  government.  At  the  head 
of  this  organization  was  to  be  placed  Mr.  Calhoun,  the 
vice-president  of  the  United  States.  Medals  were  made 
with  the  inscription,  "  John  C.  Calhoun,  First  President 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy."  Blue  cockades  were 
worn  in  the  streets,  with  a  button  in  the  centre,  bearing 
a  palmetto,  the  symbol  chosen  for  the  new  nation.  All 
this  was  called  "  nullification."  Preparation  for  armed 
resistance  was  also  made.  But  President  Jackson  issued 
a  proclamation  announcing,  "  to  say  that  any  State  may 
at  pleasure  secede  from  the  Union  is  to  say  that  the 
United  States  are  not  a  nation."  At  the  same  time, 
additional  troops  and  vessels  of  war  were  quickly  sent 
to  South  Carolina,  and  placed  under  the  command  of 
Gen.  Winfield  Scott ;  and,  soon  after,  Congress  passed 
a  law  for  a  gradual  reduction  of  the  duties  of  which 
South  Carolina  complained.  After  this  the  threats  of 
South  Carolina  were  withdrawn  ;  and  the  danger  of  civil 
war  for  that  time  passed  by. 

During  President  Jackson's  term  of  office,  several 
of  the  remaining  Indian  tribes  were  removed  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  including  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  the 
Chickasaws  and  Choctaws.  But  the  Seminoles  in 
Florida  refused  to  remove  ;  and  a  war  was  carried  on 
with  them  for  a  long  time  in  the  swamps  of  that  region, 
—  the  "  Everglades  "  as  they  are  called.  Many  fugitive 


264  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

slaves  had  escaped  to  these  swamps,  and  had  intermar 
ried  with  the  Indians.  These  slaves  and  their  children 
were  called  Maroons.  The  principal  Indian  chief,  a 
half-breed  named  Osceola,  had  a  Maroon  wife,  born  in 
the  Everglades  ;  and  once,  when  she  went  with  him  to 
one  of  the  United  States  forts,  she  was  seized  as  a 
slave  by  the  former  owner  of  her  mother.  Osceola 
was  placed  in  irons  while  she  was  taken  away  into 
captivity ;  and,  after  his  release,  he  pledged  himself  to 
vengeance  against  the  whites.  He  was  accordingly  the 
leader  of  the  Indians  in  war,  till  he  was  treacherously 
seized  under  a  flag  of  truce ;  and  he  was  then  confined 
in  a  fort  until  his  death.  The  war  was  continued 
for  many  years,  at  a  great  cost  of  money  and  life,  until 
the  tribe  was  almost  extinct ;  but  the  expense  of  the 
contest  had  been  more  than  three  times  as  much  as 
had  been  paid  to  the  Spanish  Government  for  the 
whole  of  Florida. 

This  Florida  war,  having  been  waged  largely  against 
fugitive  slaves,  only  increased  the  excitement  on  the 
question  of  slavery.  During  General  Jackson's  admin 
istration,  a  man  named  Benjamin  Lundy,  a  Quaker, 
began  a  newspaper,  called  "  The  Genius  of  Universal 
Emancipation,"  urging  that  the  slaves  should  be  gradu 
ally  freed.  This  did  not  attract  much  attention  ;  but 
in  1831  a  young  man  named  William  Lloyd  Garrison, 
who  had  been  Lundy's  assistant  editor,  established  a 
weekly  paper  in  Boston,  called  "The  Liberator,"  whose 
open  aim  was  immediate,  unconditional  emancipation. 
This  made  a  great  excitement  all  over  the  country. 
The  legislature  of  Georgia  offered  five  thousand  dollars 
for  the  head  of  Garrison ;  and  the  governor  of  Massa- 


THE    ANTISLAVERY    MOVEMENT.  265 

chusetts  (Edward  Everett)  expressed  in  his  annual  mes 
sage  the  opinion  that  the  abolitionists  might  be  prose 
cuted  in  the  courts.  Mr.  Garrison  had,  however,  said, 
in  his  paper,  "  I  will  not  equivocate  ;  I  will  not  excuse ; 
I  will  not  retreat  a  single  inch ;  and  I  will  be  heard." 
The  excitement  was  much  increased  by  an  insurrection 
that  took  place  in  Virginia,  headed  by  a  slave  named 
Nat  Turner,  who,  with  a  band  of  associates,  went  from 
house  to  house,  putting  whole  families  to  death.  Mr. 
Garrison  was  opposed  to  this,  and  to  all  war  and  to 
all  bloodshed ;  but  the  insurrection  was,  nevertheless, 
attributed  to  his  teachings.  Turner  was  at  last  arrested, 
tried,  and  executed.  After  this,  the  New  England  Anti- 
slavery  Society,  which  was  founded  by  Garrison  in  1832, 
exerted  more  and  more  influence.  Other  societies  were 
founded  in  different  parts  of  ihe  country.  To  resist  all 
such  agitation,  President  Jackson  urged  Congress  to 
pass  a  law  excluding  antislavery  publications  from  the 
mails ;  but  the  bill  was  finally  defeated. 

President  Jackson  was  made  popular  with  many  peo 
ple  by  the  energy  and  firmness  he  had  shown  in  several 
cases,  especially  in  dealing  with  South  Carolina,  and  in 
preventing,  by  his  veto,  the  establishment  of  a  national 
bank,  to  which  his  party  was  much  opposed.  He  was, 
however,  much  disliked  by  many,  for  these  same  acts  ; 
and  there  was  much  party  excitement  while  he  was  in 
power.  He  also  made  himself  unpopular  by  remov 
ing  from  office,  in  many  cases,  those  opposed  to  his 
administration,  and  appointing  his  political  supporters 
to  the  places  thus  left  vacant  This  practice  had  never 
before  existed  on  any  large  scale ;  but  it  has,  unfortu 
nately,  continued  ever  since.  The  nation  was,  however, 


266 

prosperous,  and  out  of  debt ;  and  indeed  there  was  a 
surplus  of  revenue,  so  that  there  was  a  sum  of  money  to 
be  distributed  among  the  States.  The  census  taken  in 
1830,  under  Jackson's  administration,  showed  a  popu 
lation  of  nearly  thirteen  millions  (12,866,020),  —  more 
than  three  times  what  it  had  been  during  the  presi 
dency  of  Washington.  Under  Jackson,  moreover,  two 
new  States  were  added  to  the  Union,  —  Arkansas  (1836), 
formed  from  a  portion  of  the  great  Louisiana  purchase, 
and  named  for  a  tribe  of  Indians  now  extinct;  and 
Michigan  (1837),  named  from  Indian  words  meaning 
"great  lake."  Michigan  was  formed  from  a  part  of 
the  old  North-west  Territory,  early  explored  and  settled 
by  the  French ;  and,  as  slavery  had  been  prohibited  in 
all  that  territory  by  the  "Ordinance  of  1787,"  Michi 
gan  came  in  as  a  free  State  ;  but  Arkansas  came  in  as 
a  slave  State. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 


VAN  BUREN,  HARRISON,  TYLER,  AND  THE  ANNEXATION 
OF  TEXAS. 

THE  next  president  was  Martin  Van  Buren  of  New 
York  (1837-1841).    Like  General  Jackson  before 
him,  he  was  the  candidate  of  the   Democratic  party, 
which  differed  from  the  Whig  party,  as  the  opposition 
party  was  now  called, 


mainly 


in    insisting 


more  on  the  rights  of 
the  separate  States, 
and  less  on  those  of 
the  General  Govern 
ment.  During  Mr. 
Van  Buren's  admin 
istration,  there  was 
great  excitement  on 
the  Canadian  fron 
tier,  because  of  a  re 
bellion  against  the 
British  Government 
in  Canada.  Many 
people  in  the  States 
bordering  on  Canada  sympathized  with  this  rebellion  ; 
but  the  American  Government  discouraged  all  active 
assistance,  as  being  contrary  to  international  law.  The 
rebellion  was  finally  subdued.  267 


MARTIN   VAN    BUREN. 


268  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

But  there  was  an  excitement  which  kept  on  increas 
ing  in  the  United  States  during  all  President  Van 
Buren's  time,  and  was  far  more  important  than  the 
Canadian  rebellion.  This  was  the  antislavery  agitation, 
which  grew  steadily  greater,  and  was  often  resisted  by 
mobs  and  violence,  even  in  the  free  States.  A  slave 
child  named  Med,  who  had  been  brought  by  her  master 
into  Boston,  was  declared  free  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State,  as  not  being  a  fugitive ;  and  several  similar 
triumphs  were  obtained.  On  the  other  hand,  a  meet 
ing  of  the  Boston  Female  Antislavery  Society  was 
broken  up  by  a  mob,  while  the  mayor  declared  himself 
unable  to  protect  it ;  and  Mr.  Garrison,  who  had  at 
tempted  to  address  the  society,  was  dragged  through 
the  streets  with  a  rope  round  his  body,  and  was  finally 
saved  by  the  police,  who  lodged  him  in  jail  for  protec 
tion.  A  public  hall  in  Philadelphia,  called  Pennsyl 
vania  Hall,  where  the  national  convention  of  antislavery 
women  had  met,  was  burned.  Schools  for  colored  chil 
dren  in  New  Hampshire  and  Connecticut  were  broken 
up.  At  Alton,  111.,  Rev.  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  who  edited 
an  antislavery  newspaper,  was  killed  by  a  mob.  In 
Congress,  a  plan  was  brought  forward  for  the  annexa 
tion  of  Texas,  then  an  independent  Republic  ;  and,  as 
it  was  seen  that  this  measure  would  have  the  effect  of 
strengthening  slavery,  petitions  were  poured  into  Con 
gress  by  the  thousand,  many  of  them  signed  by  women, 
against  it.  Great  efforts  were  made  to  exclude  these 
petitions  ;  and  Ex-President  John  Quincy  Adams  spoke 
an  hour  a  day,  for  twelve  days,  amid  constant  inter 
ruptions,  in  behalf  of  the  petitioners.  The  annexation 
of  Texas  was  for  the  time  defeated  ;  but  a  rule  was 


TIPPECANOE    AND    TYLER    TOO.  269 

adopted  by  Congress,  and  for  ten  years  remained  in 
force,  excluding  all  petitions  on  any  subject  pertaining 
to  slavery. 

While  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  president,  there  was  great 
commercial  distress,  and  there  were  many  failures 
among  men  of  business ;  and  this  was  one  great  reason 
why  he  was  not  re-elected,  but  was  defeated  after  his 
first  term.  No  new  States  were  added  during  his 
administration ;  but  when  the  census  was  taken  (in 
1840)  it  was  found  that  the  population  of  the  country 
had  increased  to  seventeen  millions  (17,069,453), — 
more  than  four  times  the  population  of  Washington's 
time. 

The  general  discontent  of  the  nation  over  business 
troubles,  during  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration,  led  to 
a  great  excitement  as  to  the  choice  of  his  successor. 
Gen.  William  Henry  Harrison  of  Ohio,  who  had  fought 
Tecumseh  and  his  Indians  bravely  thirty  years  before, 
was  nominated  for  president  by  the  Whigs.  As  he  came 
from  what  was  then  the  Far  West,  some  one  gave  him 
the  name  of  "  The  Log-Cabin  Candidate  ; "  and  all  over 
the  country  log-cabins  were  soon  built  for  political 
meetings ;  and  there  were  political  celebrations,  at  which 
cider  was  the  only  beverage,  this  being  a  favorite  drink 
among  farmers.  There  were  many  songs  composed 
and  sung  at  these  gatherings,  —  songs  about  "the  hero 
of  Tippecanoe  "  and  about  "  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler 
too ; "  John  Tyler  being  the  candidate  for  vice-presi 
dent.  In  short,  it  was  the  liveliest  political  campaign 
that  had  ever  been  known  ;  and  the  end  of  it  was  the 
election,  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  of  General  Harrison, 
who  was  inaugurated  president  in  1841. 


270  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

General  Harrison  lived  precisely  a  month  after  his 
inauguration  ;  and  Vice-President  John  Tyler  of  Vir 
ginia  became  president  for  the  remainder  of  the  four 
years  (1841-1845).  During  his  administration,  the 
nation  was  at  peace  with  foreign  countries,  though  war 
was  at  one  time  threatened  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  because  of  a  dispute  about  the 
boundary-line  between  Maine  and  New  Brunswick.  A 
treaty  was  at  last  made  (in  1842),  by  Lord  Ashburton 
in  behalf  of  England,  and  by  Daniel  Webster  for 
America  ;  and  this  settled  the  question  of  the  boundary. 
Then  there  were  internal  troubles  in  several  of  the 
States.  In  Rhode  Island  (in  1842),  there  was  a  revolt 
against  the  old  colonial  charter  under  which  the  State 
had  always  been  governed ;  and,  after  a  brief  military 
contest  known  as  the  "  Dorr  War,"  the  rebellion  was 
defeated,  though  a  new  constitution  was  adopted  at 
last,  in  consequence  of  it.  In  New  York,  along  the 
Hudson  River,  where  the  estates  of  the  old  Dutch 
"  patroons  "  lay,  the  tenants  who  occupied  these  estates 
grew  unwilling  to  pay  rent  to  the  descendants  of  the 
early  proprietors,  and  there  was  armed  resistance  for  a 
time.  There  was  also  much  disturbance  in  Illinois, 
where  the  religious  sect  called  the  "Mormons,"  or 
"  Latter-Day  Saints,"  who  had  built  a  city  called  Nau- 
voo,  were  assailed  repeatedly  by  mobs.  The  Mormon 
sect  had  been  founded  fourteen  years  before,  by  a  man 
named  Joseph  Smith,  who  claimed  to  have  discovered 
a  book,  called  "The  Book  of  Mormon,"  written  on  gold 
plates  that  were  found  buried  in  the  earth.  The  Mor 
mons  first  established  themselves  in  Missouri,  were 
driven  thence  by  mob  violence  to  Illinois,  and  thence 


ANNEXATION    OF   TEXAS.  271 

to  the  Territory  of  Utah,  where  they  made  for  them 
selves  a  settlement  in  the  wilderness,  and  still  remain. 

One  new  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union  dur 
ing  Mr.  Tyler's  administration,  —  Florida.  As  has 
already  been  told,  Florida  contained  older  European 
settlements  than  any  part  of  the  nation  to  which  it 
was  annexed;  St.  Augustine  even  dating  back  to  the 
early  Spanish  colony  of  1565.  Florida  had  been 
alternately  claimed  by  the  Spaniards,  the  French,  and 
the  English,  and  had  been  finally  ceded  by  Spain  to 
the  United  States  in  1819.  For  many  years  it  was 
governed  only  as  a  Territory ;  but  in  1845  ^  was  admitted 
as  a  State.  Its  name  came  from  the  day  on  which  it 
was  first  explored,  Easter  Sunday,  called  by  the  Span 
iards  Pascua  Florida,  or  Flowery  Easter. 

But  Mr.  Tyler's  administration  will  be  chiefly  remem 
bered  as  having  brought  about  the  annexation  to  the 
United  States  of  a  foreign  State,  —  the  State  of  Texas. 
Texas  had  been  first  explored  by  La  Salle,  in  1684, 
when  looking  for  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  From 
that  time  forth,  it  had  been  almost  constantly  the  scene 
of  war  between  hostile  claimants.  First  the  Spaniards 
and  French  contested  for  it,  and  established  rival 
"missions,"  or  religious  settlements.  Then  the  large 
province  of  Texas  revolted  from  Mexico,  and  declared 
itself  an  independent  State.  Many  Americans  took 
part  in  obtaining  the  independence  of  Texas ;  for  sev 
eral  large  American  colonies  had  been  established 
there,  and  these  Americans  had  carried  their  slaves 
with  them ;  whereas  Mexico  had  before  abolished 
slavery.  Thus  there  was  much  sympathy  for  Texas  in 
the  South-western  States  of  the  American  Union ;  atid 


272  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

there  was  a  strong  desire  to  annex  it  to  the  United 
States.  On  the  other  hand,  the  free  States  were  gen 
erally  much  opposed  to  its  admission,  as  it  was  frankly 
admitted  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  great  leader  of  the  pro- 
slavery  party,  that  the  object  of  the  measure  was  "  to 
uphold  the  interests  of  slavery,  extend  its  influence, 
and  secure  its  permanent  duration."  This  seemed 
very  likely  to  prove  true,  because  Texas  was  an  im 
mense  region,  including  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  square  miles,  and  being  thus  one-third  as  large 
as  the  original  thirteen  States  combined,  forty  times  as 
large  as  Massachusetts,  and  more  than  twice  as  large 
as  the  great  States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Ohio  put  together.  If,  now,  all  this  were  to  be  ad 
mitted  as  slave  territory,  it  seemed  as  if  freedom  would 
be  entirely  outvoted  in  the  government  forever.  This 
accounts  for  the  great  opposition  that  was  made  to 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  which,  however,  finally  took 
place  at  the  end  of  Mr.  Tyler's  administration.  A 
joint  resolution  for  this  purpose  passed  the  United 
States  House  of  Representatives  Feb.  25,  1845,  and 
the  United  States  Senate  March  i  ;  and  it  was  approved 
by  the  president  on  the  very  day  it  passed  the  Senate, 
—  three  days  before  he  went  out  of  office.  A  great 
territory  was  thus  added  to  the  nation,  in  return  for 
which  the  United  States  assumed  the  Texas  debt  of 
seven  and  a  half  million  dollars.  This  seemed  to  many 
people,  at  that  time,  to  be  a  great  sum  to  pay  for  a  very 
doubtful  advantage  ;  and  it  was  often  said  that  the  word 
"  Texas  "  was  only  "  Taxes  "  with  the  letters  differently 
arranged. 


,    CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

POLK   AND   THE    MEXICAN    WAR. 

JAMES  K.  POLK  of  Tennessee  was  president  of  the 
United  States  for  the  next  four  years  (1845-1849) ; 
and  the  report  of  his  nomination  was  the  first  news 
ever  transmitted  by  telegraph  in  America,  being  sent  on 
the  new  line  which  Professor  Morse  had  just  completed 
between  Washington  and  Baltimore.  Mr.  Polk  was  the 
candidate  of  the  Democratic  party ;  and  he  was  opposed 
by  the  Whig  party  and  the  new  party  called  the  "  Lib 
erty  "  party,  which  was  formed  to  resist  the  influence  of 
slavery.  Mr.  Folk's  election  turned  mainly  on  the  ques 
tion  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  though  this  was  finally 
settled  just  before  he  came  into  power.  There  was 
also  a  question,  which,  for  a  time,  caused  much  anxiety, 
as  to  the  possession  of  Oregon. 

The  American  Government  had  made  claim  to 
Oregon,  because  an  American  captain  had  discovered 
the  Columbia  River,  and  an  American  expedition, 
Lewis  and  Clark's,  had  explored  it.  But  that  whole 
region  had  been  practically  under  control  of  the 
British  fur  companies  ;  and,  though  many  Americans 
had  settled  there,  it  had  always  been  disputed  territory. 
In  1846,  however,  under  President  Polk,  a  treaty  was 
made  which  divided  this  great  region.  The  United 
18  273 


a 74  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 

States  had  claimed  as  far  north  as  54°  40'  north  lati 
tude  ;  and  "  Fifty-four  forty,  or  fight,"  was  a  favorite 
electioneering  motto  in  the  presidential  campaign.  But 
it  was  finally  agreed  that  the  line  should  be  drawn  at 
49°.  All  north  of  this  was  given  to  Great  Britain  ;  and 
all  south,  including  more  than  three  hundred  thousand 
(308,052)  square  miles,  to  the  United  States.  Thus  the 
western  boundary  question  was  peacefully  settled,  as 
the  north-eastern  boundary  question  had  been  settled 
just  before  ;  and  this  did  much  credit  to  Mr.  Folk's 
administration,  and  gave  satisfaction  to  almost  all. 

But  the  other  great  event  of  Mr.  Folk's  administra 
tion  was  something  about  which  people  were  not  at  all 
agreed,  and  which  many,  especially  in  the  Northern 
States,  regarded  as  a  great  calamity,  —  the  Mexican 
War.  When  the  United  States  had  annexed  Texas, 
the  nation  found  that  it  had  still  another  question  of 
boundary  on  its  hands.  Texas  claimed  that  its  western 
boundary  was  the  Rio  Grande,  and  Mexico  claimed  that 
it  was  the  River  Nueces ;  and,  as  these  rivers  were  a 
hundred  miles  apart,  there  was  a  wide  range  of  disputed 
territory  between.  The  United  States  took  up  the  cause 
of  Texas ;  and  General  Taylor  was  sent  to  the  disputed 
ground  with  a  small  army.  The  Mexicans,  also,  sent 
troops  thither ;  and  fighting  soon  began,  first  in  a  small 
way,  then  in  some  larger  battles,  at  Palo  Alto  and 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  in  which  the  Americans  were  suc 
cessful.  Then  General  Taylor  crossed  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  took  Matamoras,  which  was  within  undisputed 
Mexican  territory,  sf 

There  was  much  excitement  in  Washington  on  hear- 
ing  this  news.  Congress  voted  thus,  May  n,  1846 


THE    MEXICAN    WAR. 


275 


"  By  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  war  exists 
between  that  government  and  the  United  States;" 
though  the  Whig  members  declared  that  the  war  was 
not  really  begun  by  Mexico,  but  by  General  Taylor. 
Congress  also  voted  ten  million  dollars  for  the  war,  and 
resolved  to  raise  fifty  thousand  volunteers.  There  was 
not  much  sympathy  for  the  war  in  the  Eastern  States  ; 
but  the  South-western  States,  which  were  nearest  the 
scene  of  excitement,  sent  many  volunteers  to  the  aid  of 
General  Taylor.  At  last  his  army  reached  nearly 
seven  thousand  men  ;  and  with  this  he  took,  in  three 
days,  the  fortified  town  of  Monterey,  garrisoned  by  ten 
thousand  Mexi 
cans.  Then  Gen 
eral  Santa  Anna, 
who  had  formerly 
been  President  of 
Mexico,  and  was 
regarded  as  the 
best  soldier  of  that 
Republic,  took 
command  of  the 
Mexican  army,  but 
was  beaten  by 
General  Taylor, 
with  a  much  small 
er  force,  at  Buena 
Vista.  Then  Gen 
eral  Scott  was 
sent,  with  an  addi 
tional  army,  to  attack  the  principal  port  and  fortress  of 
Mexico,  Vera  Cruz,  with  the  hope  of  thus  penetrating  to 


GENERAL   SCOTT. 


276 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


the  capital  of  the  country,  and  "conquering  a  peace.'* 
He,  accordingly,  with  twelve  thousand  men,  bombarded 
Vera  Cruz  ;  and  it  was  surrendered,  with  the  fortress  ofc 
San  Juan  d'Ulloa,  the  strongest  fortress  on  the  conti 
nent,  except  that  of  Quebec.  A  fleet  under  Commodore 
Matthew  C.  Perry  also  assisted  in  this  attack.  Then 
the  American  army  advanced  toward  the  capital,  over- 


BATTLE  OF   BUENA   VISTA.  —  REPULSE  OF   MEXICAN    LANCERS. 

coming  all  difficulties,  and  winning  a  series  of  daring 
victories  on  the  way,  always  against  great  superiority  of 
numbers.  Among  these  battles  were  those  of  Cerro 
Gordo,  Churubusco,  El  Molino  del  Rey,  and  Chapul- 
tepec ;  and  the  Americans  finally  took  possession  of 
the  city  of  Mexico,  Sept.  14,  1847.  **  was  a  city  °f 
a  hundred  and  forty  thousand  inhabitants;  and  the 


END    OF    THE    WAR.  277 

army  that  entered  it  consisted  of  less  than  six  thousand 
men.    /// 

Meanwhile  the  Mexican  provinces  were  being  at 
tacked  in  several  different  directions.  Gen.  Stephen 
Kearny  marched  into  New  Mexico,  and  Colonel  Doni- 
phan,  into  Chihuahua ;  and  their  small  forces  took  pos 
session  of  those  provinces.  Capt.  J.  C.  Fremont,  who 
was  exploring  California  with  only  sixty  men,  had 
formed  a  plan  of  making  California  into  an  independent 
State,  such  as  Texas  had  been,  and  had  induced  the 
American  settlers  in  the  Sacramento  Valley  to  join  him 
in  this  effort.  He  had  raised  over  his  troops  a  flag, 
bearing  the  figure  of  a  bear,  to  represent  independent 
California ;  but,  on  hearing  that  an  American  fleet  had 
taken  Monterey,  on  the  seacoast,  he  raised  the  Ameri 
can  flag  instead.  After  a  series  of  fights  with  Mexican 
troops,  and  with  the  aid  of  Commodore  Stockton  and 
a  naval  force,  he  took  possession  of  California  in  order 
that  it  might  become  a  part  of  the  United  States.  At 
last  a  treaty  was  made  with  Mexico,  by  which  Mexico 
gave  up  New  Mexico  and  Upper  California  to  the 
United  States,  and  agreed  to  accept  the  Rio  Grande  as 
the  boundary  between  herself  and  Texas.  The  terri 
tory  thus  added  to  the  United  States  was  more  than 
half  a  million  (522,955)  square  miles.  In  return,  the 
United  States  agreed  to  pay  Mexico  fifteen  millions  of 
dollars,  and  to  assume  the  debts  due  citizens  of  the 
United  States  from  Mexico,  amounting  to  three  and  a 
half  millions  besides.  The  treaty  by  which  all  this  was 
accomplished  was  called  the  "  Treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo,"  from  the  city  where  it  was  made.  It  was 
signed  Feb.  2,  1848,  and  was  ratified  by  Congress 


278  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

March  10  of  the  same  year.  Thus  the  Mexican  War 
closed  in  two  years  from  its  beginning. 

Nobody  knew,  when  this  treaty  was  made,  how  great 
was  the  value  of  the  territory  thus  gained.  California 
had  been  known  only  as  a  distant  region,  whither  men 
went  by  sea,  around  Cape  Horn,  to  buy  hides  and 
furs.  But  in  1848  there  came  rumors  to  the  Eastern 
States  of  gold  mines  on  the  Sacramento  River,  in 
California,  which  promised  to  be  richer  than  any  in  the 
world.  It  was  said  that  a  laborer  in  the  employ  of 
Captain  Sutter,  a  Swiss  settler  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley,  had  found  in  the  sand  some  glittering  particles, 
which  turned  out  to  be  gold.  Then  there  was  a  sud 
den  and  eager  emigration  to  that  region  from  all  parts 
of  the  Union  ;  and  in  the  very  first  year  the  mines 
yielded  four  million  dollars'  worth  of  gold.  Within  two 
years  San  Francisco  contained  fifteen  thousand  inhabit 
ants.  The  name  of  California  is  supposed  to  have 
been  taken  from  an  old  Spanish  romance,  in  which  the 
name  was  given  to  an  imaginary  island  filled  with  gold  ; 
and  the  early  explorer,  Cortes,  when  he  visited  the 
western  coast  of  the  continent,  applied  that  name  to 
the  whole  region  long  before  any  gold  was  actually 
found  there. 

During  Mr.  Folk's  administration  three  more  States 
were  admitted  to  the  American  Union,  making  thirty 
in  all.  These  were  Texas,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin  ;  the 
names  of  all  three  being  taken  from  Indian  tribes  or 
rivers.  Texas  was  admitted  as  a  State  in  1845  ;  and 
the  same  antislavery  feeling  that  had  resisted  its 
annexation  was  revived  to  resist  its  admission  as  a 
State,  but  unsuccessfully.  Then  came  Iowa  (1846), 


THE    SLAVERY    QUESTION.  279 

which  was  made  out  of  a  part  of  the  great  Louisiana 
purchase,  and  Wisconsin  (1848),  which  had  been  a  part 
of  the  old  "  North-west  territory  "  originally  belonging 
to  the  United  States.  Both  these  last  were  free  States  ; 
and  it  became  plainer  and  plainer  that  the  multitude  of 
foreign  immigrants  would  always  prefer  free  territory  to 
slave  territory,  and  that  the  free  States  would  inevitably 
grow  faster  than  the  others.  This  made  the  slavehold- 
ing  States  still  more  desirous  to  secure  more  States  of 
their  own  description,  wherever  it  was  possible ;  and 
when,  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  Waf,  a  great  extent 
of  new  territory  was  acquired,  great  efforts  were  made 
on  both  sides  to  secure  control  of  it.  For  this  purpose 
Mr.  Wilmot  of  Pennsylvania  introduced  into  Congress 
a  measure,  commonly  called  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso," 
absolutely  excluding  slavery  from  the  whole  of  the  new 
acquisitions.  It  was  long  discussed,  and  finally  de 
feated  ;  but  the  agitation  led  to  the  formation  of  a  new 
party,  whose  object  was  to  oppose  the  extension  of 
slavery.  It  was  called  the  "  Freesoil "  party,  and  took 
the  place  of  the  old  Liberty  party.  Under  its  new 
name  it  took  an  active  part  in  the  next  presidential 
election,  and  at  a  later  period,  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Republican  "  party,  obtained  the  control  of  the  gov 
ernment. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE   APPROACH   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR. 
TAYLOR,    FILLMORE,    AND     PIERCE. 

AT  the  next  presidential  election,  the  Whig  party, 
which  had  opposed  the  Mexican  War,  thought  it 
best  to  nominate  for  president  the  most  successful 
general  of  the  war,  Zachary  Taylor  of  Louisiana.  He 
had  been  popular  with  his  soldiers,  and  had  been 
named  by  them  "  Old  Rough  and  Ready."  He  was 
opposed  by  the  Democratic  party  and  by  the  new 
"  Freesoil  "  party,  but  was  elected,  and  was  inaugurated 
March  5,  1849.  He  died  a  little  more  than  a  year  after 
wards,  July  9,  1850;  and  Vice-President  Millard  Fill- 
more  of  New  York  became  president  for  the  remainder 
of  that  presidential  term,  1850-1853. 

The  antislavery  struggle  had  now  risen  to  be  the 
chief  question  before  Congress ;  and  an  attempt  was 
made  by  Henry  Clay  of  Kentucky,  a  very  eloquent 
and  persuasive  orator,  to  settle  it  forever  by  a  series  of 
what  were  called  "  Compromise  Measures."  One  of 
the  principal  measures  was  the  admission  of  California 
as  a  free  State.  Another  was  the  abolition  of  the  slave- 
trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  These  were 
adopted,  and  were  regarded  as  concessions  in  favor 
280 


FUGITIVE    SLAVE    LAW.  281 

of  freedom.  On  the  other  hand,  to  balance  these,  a 
bill  was  introduced,  called  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
giving  the  owners  of  slaves  the  opportunity  to  recapture 
their  escaped  slaves  in  any  part  of  the  free  States, 
and  to  carry  them  back  without  trial  by  jury.  This  was 
considered  by  many  to  be  unconstitutional,  as  well  as 
inhuman.  It  was  opposed  and  denounced  by  the 
leading  antislavery  orators,  such  as  Charles  Sumner, 
Horace  Mann,  Wendell  Phillips,  and  Theodore  Parker ; 
but  it  was  supported  by  leading  Northern  statesmen, 
such  as  Daniel  Webster ;  and  it  became  a  law,  Sept. 
18,  1850. 

This  law  produced  more  excitement  than  any  thing 
that  had  before  happened  during  the  antislavery  agita 
tion.  In  Syracuse,  N.Y.,  a  fugitive  named  Jerry  was 
rescued  by  force  from  the  government  officers  :  in  Bos 
ton  one  named  Shadrach  was  rescued ;  and  an  attempt 
was  made  to  rescue  another,  named  Anthony  Burns. 
One  man  was  killed  in  this  last  attempt ;  and  troops 
were  ordered  out  to  aid  in  the  surrender  of  the  alleged 
slave.  In  Ohio  a  fugitive  woman,  named  Margaret 
Garner,  killed  two  of  her  own  children  to  save  them 
from  being  carried  into  slavery.  In  several  of  the 
States,  laws  were  framed  to  restrict  or  defeat  the  ope 
ration  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  to  secure  at  least 
a  jury  trial  for  those  claimed  as  slaves. 

These  compromise  measures  formed  the  most  im 
portant  feature  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  administration.  In 
other  respects  his  term  of  office  was  a  peaceful  one. 
One  new  State  was  admitted  during  this  time  :  it  was 
formed,  in  1850,  out  of  the  territory  purchased  at  the 
close  of  the  Mexican  War,  and  was  named  California ; 


282  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

thus  perpetuating  the  old  Spanish  name.  The  two  Ter 
ritories  of  New  Mexico  and  Utah  were  also  organized 
out  of  the  same  purchase.  New  Mexico  was  inhabited 
chiefly  by  a  population  of  Spanish  origin;  and  Utah 
had  been  settled  by  the  religious  sect  called  Mormons, 
whose  leader,  Brigham  Young,  was  commissioned  by 
the  president  as  governor  of  the  Territory.  By  the 
census  of  1850  the  population  of  the  whole  nation  was 
about  twenty-three  millions  (23,191,876). 

Mr.  Fillmore  had  been  elected  as  a  Whig;  though 
the  antislavery  agitation  was  fast  destroying  old  party 
lines.  His  successor,  Franklin  Pierce  of  New  Hamp 
shire  (1853-1857),  was  a  Democrat.  During  his  term 
the  same  agitation  was  further  increased  by  the  efforts 
of  the  friends  of  slavery  to  overthrow  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  as  it  was  called  ;  a  law  which  had  been  passed 
in  1820,  prohibiting  slavery  north  of  a  certain  line  in 
that  great  domain  which  had  been  bought  under  the 
name  of  Louisiana.  It  was  now  proposed  to  organize 
out  of  that  region,  from  which  slavery  had  been  thus 
excluded,  two  new  Territories,  to  be  named  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  and  to  let  the  inhabitants  determine  for  them 
selves  whether  they  should  establish  slavery  or  free 
dom.  This  change  of  policy  was  strongly  resisted  by 
the  antislavery  party,  and  more  than  three  thousand  of 
the  New  England  clergy  petitioned  Congress  against  it ; 
but  it  was  finally  passed,  May  30,  1854. 

As  this  law  left  it  to  the  settlers  to  decide  upon  their 
institutions,  it  was  considered  important  both  by  the 
friends  and  the  opponents  of  slavery  to  encourage  emi 
gration  to  the  new  Territories.  Parties  were  therefore 
organized  for  this  purpose  in  various  parts  of  the  Union. 


BORDER    RUFFIANISM.  283 

Those  from  the  free  States  generally  went  as  permanent 
settlers,  with  their  families  ;  but  many  went  in  from  the 
slave  States,  merely  to  take  part  in  the  disturbances, 
and  aid  in  establishing  slavery.  This  was  especially 
the  case  with  a  class  of  Missourians,  who  could  at  any 
time  cross  the  Kansas  border,  commit  depredations, 
vote  at  elections,  and  then  retreat  across  the  border, 
undisturbed.  These  invaders  were  commonly  called 
"  Border  Ruffians."  At  one  time  they  stopped  the  navi 
gation  of  the  Missouri  River  for  all  free  State  settlers, 
compelling  all  these  to  take  a  tedious  overland  journey 


EMIGRANTS    CROSSING    THE    PLAINS. 


through  Iowa.  The  United  States  officials  supported, 
sometimes  the  one  party,  and  sometimes  the  other, 
finally  inclining  towards  the  slaveholders ;  while  gov 
ernor  after  governor  was  sent  from  Washington,  and 
resigned  in  despair.  Two  separate  governments  were 
organized  by  the  settlers,  and  two  separate  codes  of 
law  adopted.  Actual  fighting  began  at  last.  The 
free  State  military  leaders  —  Lane,  Montgomery,  and 
others  —  organized  bands  to  defend  their  settle 
ments  ;  and  Capt.  John  Brown  took  an  especially  daring 
part  in  the  defence.  At  Ossawattomie,  for  instance,  he 
defended  himself,  with  sixteen  men,  against  several 


284  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

hundred  marauders  from  Missouri ;  his  little  band 
killing  and  wounding  more  than  four  times  their  own 
number,  and  losing  but  two  men.  The  same  invaders 
sacked  and  burned  the  flourishing  village  of  Lawrence, 
lately  settled  by  men  from  Massachusetts.  Many  fami 
lies  in  Kansas  were  reduced  to  poverty  during  this 
period,  or  lived  by  taking  horses  and  cattle  belonging  to 
those  of  the  other  party  ;  so  that  men  would  speak  of  a 
proslavery  horse  or  an  antislavery  cow,  according  as  the 
owner  of  these  animals  belonged  to  either  side.  At. 
last  the  establishment  of  freedom  was  secure^  in 
Nebraska  and  Kansas,  but  at  a  great  cost  of  suffering 
and  hatred. 

A  more  peaceful  event  of  President  Pierce's  admin 
istration  was  a  purchase  of  territory  called  the  "  Gads- 
den  Purchase,"  from  the  name  of  the  minister  who 
negotiated  it.  When  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidal 
go  was  made,  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War,  it  was 
founded  on  an  inaccurate  map  ;  and  this  afterwards  led 
to  a  dispute  about  the  New  Mexican  boundary.  To 
settle  the  dispute,  the  United  States  bought  of  Mexico 
(Dec.  30,  1853)  a  part  of  the  Territories  now  known  as 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  for  ten  million  dollars.  This 
purchase  included  about  forty-five  thousand  square 
miles,  and  brought  the  whole  territorial  extent  of  the 
United  States  (in  1854)  up  to  nearly  three  million  square 
miles  (2,981,701).  This  was  nearly  four  times  the  area 
of  the  original  thirteen  States,  and  far  larger  than  that 
of  the  famous  Roman  empire  in  its  greatest  days. 

Another  important  event  that  occurred  in  the  time  of 
President  Pierce  was  a  treaty  with  Japan,  negotiated 
March  21,  1854,  by  Commodore  Matthew  C.  Perry, 


TREATY  WITH  JAPAN.  285 

brother  of  the  hero  of  Lake  Erie.  Before  this  time 
Japan  had  rigidly  excluded  from  its  ports  all  foreigners, 
except  about  a  dozen  Dutch  traders,  and  had  allowed 
shipwrecked  seamen  to  be  treated  with  the  greatest 
cruelty.  Commodore  Perry  with  an  American  squad 
ron  compelled  the  Japanese  to  show  more  considera 
tion  for  foreigners  in  distress  \  and  his  treaty  secured 
the  removal  of  almost  all  restrictions  on  commerce 
with  Japan. 

The  new  party  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery 
had  now  reached  such  strength,  that  the  Whig  party  had 
gradually  disappeared  ;  and  the  next  presidential  elec 
tion  lay  mainly  between  the  Republican  party,  as  the 
new  organization  styled  itself,  and  the  old  Democratic 
party.  There  was,  however,  a  temporary  party,  com 
posed  of  those  who  called  themselves  "  Know  Noth 
ings,"  and  aimed  mainly  to  oppose  foreign  influence  in 
national  legislation.  This  party  carried  but  one  State, 
Maryland ;  and  the  Democratic  candidate,  James  Bu 
chanan  of  Pennsylvania,  was  elected  president.  His 
administration  (1857-1861)  will  always  be  remembered 
as  that  in  which  the  great  civil  war,  or  "War  of  the 
Rebellion,"  arose. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE   OPENING   OF   THE   CIVIL   WAR. BUCHANAN. 

MR.  BUCHANAN'S  inauguration  too'k  place  on 
March  4,  1857  ;  and  that  very  year  the  Supreme 
Court  pronounced  a  decision,  called  the  "  Dred  Scott 
Decision,"  declaring  the  right  of  slaveholders  to  take 
their  slaves  with  them  into  any  part  of  the  country. 
This  made  a  great  excitement  throughout  the  free 
States  ;  and  something  else  soon  happened,  which  ex 
cited  the  slave  States  almost  as  much.  This  was  what 
is  commonly  called  "  John  Brown's  Raid."  Capt  John 
Brown's  name  has  been  already  mentioned  in  describ 
ing  the  resistance  of  the  "  Free  State "  settlers  of 
Kansas  to  the  "  Border  Ruffians  "  of  Missouri.  After 
order  was  restored  in  Kansas,  John  Brown  resolved  to 
fulfil  a  plan  he  had  long  formed  for  resisting  slavery  in 
the  slave  States  themselves.  In  his  youth  he  had  been 
familiar  with  the  mountains  of  Virginia,  and  had  there 
visited  places,  which,  as  he  used  to  say,  had  evidently 
been  created  to  be  the  stronghold  for  fugitive  slaves. 
General  Washington,  long  before  him,  had  formed  a 
plan  to  take  the  American  army  into  these  mountains, 
should  the  colonies  be  defeated ;  and  John  Brown 
proposed  to  do  the  same  with  an  army  of  blacks. 
So  having  collected  a  small  body  of  men  near  Harper's 
286 


JOHN  BROWN'S  RAID. 


2S7 


Ferry,  Va.,  he  entered  and  took  possession  of  the 
town,  Oct.  16,  1859.  He  at  once  seized  the  United 
States  Arsenal,  intending  thus  to  secure  arms  for  the 
fugitive  slaves  whom  he  meant  to  summon  to  his  side. 

He  frankly  announced  his  object  to  be  the  freedom 
of  the  slaves  ;  and  he  promised  safety  to  all  property, 
except  slave-property.  He  had  in  all  but  twenty-two 


HARPER'S  FERRY. 

men  ;  but  so  great  was  the  alarm  produced  by  these, 
that  several  eye-witnesses  reported  the  number  to  be 
three  hundred  ;  and  this  estimate  was  at  once  tele 
graphed  to  all  parts  of  the  Union.  With  this  small 
number  he  took  many  of  the  chief  inhabitants  of  the 
town  as  hostages  for  the  safety  of  those  under  his  com 
mand.  Wishing  to  spare  all  unnecessary  alarm  to  the 


288  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

families  of  these  hostages,  he  staid  at  Harper's  Ferry 
too  long  for  his  safety ;  so  that  militia  companies  had 
time  to  assemble,  and  finally  a  detachment  of  United 
States  marines  appeared  upon  the  scene.  Fifteen 
hundred  militiamen  were  gradually  collected  in  the 
town  ;  but  Brown's  little  force  defended  the  arsenal 
until  nearly  every  man  was  killed  or  wounded,  and  they 
then  surrendered  to  the  United  States  troops.  Colonel 
Washington,  one  of  his  prisoners,  said  that  Captain 
Brown  was  "  the  coolest  and  firmest  man  he  ever  saw 
in  defying  danger  and  death.  With  one  son  dead  by 
his  side,  and  another  shot  through,  he  felt  the  pulse 
of  his  dying  son  with  one  hand,  and  held  his  rifle  with 
the  other,  and  commanded  his  men  with  the  utmost 
composure,  encouraging  them,  to  be  firm."  He  fell  at 
last  with  six  wounds,  and  was  thought  to  be  dying. 
Ten  of  the  party  were  killed,  and  four  wounded. 

John  Brown  himself  was  put  on  trial  before  a  Vir 
ginia  court,  where  he  conducted  himself  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  win  the  admiration  even  of  his  enemies. 
Governor  Wise  of  Virginia  said  of  him,  "  They  are 
themselves  mistaken  who  take  him  for  a  madman.  .  .  . 
He  is  a  man  of  clear  head,  of  courage,  fortitude,  and 
simple  ingenuousness.  ...  He  inspired  me  with  great 
confidence  in  his  integrity  as  a  man  of  truth."  He  was 
condemned  and  executed  on  the  gallows  Dec.  2,  1859, 
at  Charlestown,  Va.  ;  his  last  act  being  to  kiss  the  fore 
head  of  a  little  slave-child,  on  the  way  to  the  place  of 
execution.  Six  of  his  comrades  were  executed  at  a  later 
day.  A  few  others,  who  were  on  duty  outside  the  town, 
escaped  to  the  mountains,  and  thence,  with  great  peril 
and  hardship,  to  the  free  States.  One  of  John  Brown's 


ELECTION   OF   MR.    LINCOLN.  289 

sons  was  the  leader  of  this  party,  and  has  written  a 
thrilling  narrative  of  their  escape.       ']/** 

These  events  brought  the  agitation  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  to  its  highest  point,  during  President  Buchan 
an's  administration.  When  the  time  drew  near  for  the 
election  of  a  new  president,  the  old  parties  were  so 
broken  up,  that  there  were  four  candidates  in  the  field ; 
though  Mr.  Buchanan  himself  was  not  one  of  them. 
Out  of  these  four,  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois  was 
elected,  he  having  been  nominated  by  the  Republican 
party;  this  being  an  enlarged  form  of  the  Free- 
soil  party,  which  had  itself'  succeeded  the  Liberty 
party.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  man  of  very  moderate 
opinions  in  regard  to  slavery,  and  was  not  disposed  to 
interfere  with  it  where  it  was  already  established  by 
law.  But  his  election  was  regarded  by  many  in  the 
slave  States  as  very  dangerous  to  the  interests  of 
slavery ;  and  these  men  resolved  to  dissolve  the  Union. 
They  maintained  that  the  United  States  consisted  of  a 
copartnership  of  entirely  independent  governments,  and 
that  any  State  could  withdraw  from  it  at  will.  This  was 
the  doctrine  called  "  State  Rights,"  which  had  long  been 
popular  in  the  Southern  States,  and  especially  in  South 
Carolina.  It  was  therefore  very  natural  that  South 
Carolina  should  take  the  lead  in  withdrawing  from  the 
Union ;  and  a  convention  was  accordingly  called  in 
that  State,  and  adopted  (Dec.  20,  1860)  an  ordinance 
of  secession.  Within  six  weeks  similar  conventions 
had  been  held,  and  similar  votes  passed,  in  the  States 
of  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana, 
and  Texas.  These  States  then  formed  themselves  into 
what  was  called  the  "Southern  Confederacy,"  and 
19 


290 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


elected  (Feb.  8,  1861)  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi  as 
president,  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens  of  Georgia  as 
vice-president.  The  new  confederacy  placed  itself 
boldly  upon  the  righteousness  of  slavery  as  a  permanent 
institution,  and  it  openly  aimed  to  establish  a  slave- 
holding  nation  in  the  Southern  States. 

The  authorities  of  South  Carolina  at  once  claimed 


ATTACK   ON   FORT   SUMTER. 

possession  of  all  national  property  in  the  State.  Seeing 
this,  Major  Robert  Anderson,  who  commanded  the 
garrison  of  a  small  fort  called  Fort  Moultrie  in  Charles 
ton  harbor,  withdrew  his  force  to  Fort  Sumter,  a 
stronger  position,  and  sent  for  re-enforcements  from 
Washington.  A  steamer  called  the  "  Star  of  the 
West,"  carrying  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  was  sent 


ATTACK    ON    FORT   SUMTER.  2()I 

to  Charleston  in  January,  but  was  fired  upon  from  Fort 
Moultrie,  where  the  insurgents  had  placed  a  garrison. 
Then  batteries  were  erected  on  the  shore  ;  and  at  last 
(April  n),  General  Beauregard,  in  command  of  the 
rebel  troops,  demanded  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter ; 
and,  this  being  refused,  the  batteries  opened  fire  upon 
the  fort,  early  the  next  morning.  For  two  days,  the  fire 
continued ;  and,  at  midnight  of  the  second  day,  Major 
Anderson  surrendered  the  fort,  his  eighty  men  being 
wholly  exhausted,  his  barracks  on  fire,  and  his  gun 
powder  almost  gone.  He  stipulated  that  he  should  be 
allowed  to  march  out  with  drums  beating,  and  colors 
flying,  and  to  bring  away  company  and  private  property. 
This  he  did  on  Sunday,  April  14,  firing  away  his  re 
maining  powder  in  saluting  the  United  States  flag  with 
fifty  guns. 

The  first  gun  fired  at  Fort  Sumter  aroused  and  ex 
cited  the  whole  nation ;  and  many  who  had  before 
expressed  much  sympathy  for  the  supporters  of  slavery 
now  took  sides  with  those  who  wished  to  preserve  the 
Union.  The  event  also  produced  a  great  impression 
at  the  South ;  and  acts  of  secession  were  passed  in 
North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Arkansas,  and  Tennessee. 
In  all  these  States  the  colored  population  took  sides 
unanimously  with  the  Union ;  but,  being  composed 
almost  wholly  of  unarmed  and  ignorant  slaves,  they 
counted  at  first  for  little.  There  were  also,  in  some  of 
these  States,  many  white  citizens  who  opposed  dis 
union  ;  but  they  were,  in  most  cases,  gradually  silenced, 
or  driven  away.  Meanwhile  President  Buchanan 
showed  no  decision  of  character  in  dealing  with  the 
Rebellion ;  and  amid  the  rising  tumult  he  went  out  of 
office. 


292  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

During  his  administration,  three  new  States  had  been 
added  to  the  Union,  —  Minnesota  (1858),  Oregon  (1859), 
and  Kansas  (1861).  Of  these,  Minnesota  and  Kansas 
were  both  formed  mainly  from  the  territory  gained  by 
the  Louisiana  purchase ;  and  both  bear  the  Indian 
names  of  rivers  flowing  through  them.  Oregon  was 
formed  out  of  the  territory  secured  to  the  United 
States  by  the  boundary  treaty  of  1846  ;  and  the  name 
is  said  to  come  from  the  word  "Oregano,"  meaning 
wild  rice,  which  grows  profusely  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
By  the  census  of  1860,  taken  during  Mr.  Buchanan's 
administration,  the  whole  population  of  the  country  was 
dearly  thirty-one  and  a  half  millions  (31,443,321). 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


THE   CIVIL   WAR. LINCOLN. 

NO  one  who  was  not  in  the  midst  of  it  can  ima 
gine  the  excitement  that  arose  in  all  the  Northern 
States  when  it  was  heard  that  Fort  Sumter  had  been 
attacked.  Up  to  that  moment,  there  had  been  a  great 
division  of  feeling  at  the 
North ;  and  there  were 
many  who  thought,  that,  by 
patient  efforts,  those  who 
wished  to  secede  from  the 
Union  could  be  brought 
back  again.  Few  really  be 
lieved  that  there  was  to  be 
any  serious  fighting.  While 
the  white  population  of  the 
South  had  been  preparing 
for  war,  the  Northern  peo 
ple  had  gone  about  their  usual  employments  ;  and,  when 
the  attack  came,  they  were  quite  taken  by  surprise. 
Although,  three  months  before,  the  rebels  in  Louisiana 
had  seized  upon  the  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  upon  the  United  States  Arsenal  at  Baton 
Rouge,  the  Northern  people  could  not  convince  them 
selves  that  actual  war  would  take  place.  So  they  were 
still  unprepared.  293 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


294  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

When  President  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  (March  4, 
1861),  the  regular  army  was  very  small,  and  very  much 
scattered ;  but,  on  the  i5th  of  April,  he  issued  a  call 
for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers  for  three  months 
only.  A  few  regiments  of  militia  were  hastily  sum 
moned  from  the  different  States  for  the  defence  of 
Washington.  One  of  these,  the  Sixth  Massachusetts, 


SIXTH   MASSACHUSETTS  REGIMKNT  ATTACKED   BY  A   MOB. 

was  attacked  by  a  mob  in  passing  through  Baltimore  ; 
and,  after  three  men  had  been  killed  by  stones  and 
clubs,  one  company  fired  on  the  mob  in  return,  killing 
nine  men,  and  wounding  many.  This  took  place  on 
April  19,  1861,  the  anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Lex 
ington.  It  produced  almost  as  much  excitement  as 
the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  not  that  the  Baltimore 


ORGANIZATION    OF    THE   ARMY.  295 

affair  was  a  deliberate  act  of  organized  rebellion,  but 
that  it  showed  the  feeling  of  hostility  to  the  govern 
ment  wherever  slavery  existed.  *y 

When  it  was  necessary  to  send  the  next  troops 
through  Maryland,  they  were  not  marched  through  Bal 
timore,  but  through  Annapolis.  General  Butler,  with 
regiments  of  militia  from  Massachusetts  and  New 
York,  passed  along  the  line  of  railway  from  Annapolis 
to  Washington  ;  the  soldiers  repairing  it  as  they  went. 
Finding  a  wrecked  locomotive  by  the  roadside,  the 
general  asked  if  there  was  any  one  in  the  ranks  who 
could  repair  it.  "  I  can,"  said  a  soldier  who  had  been 
examining  the  engine  ;  "  for  I  built  it."  In  truth,  these 
troops  were  made  up  of  men  of  all  occupations,  just 
taken  from  the  daily  pursuits  of  life  ;  and  there  were  few 
trades  which  were  not  represented  in  every  regiment. 
After  a  while,  troops  were  sent  through  Baltimore  again  • 
and  it  became,  almost  of  necessity,  a  loyal  city.  But  at 
first  the  thing  most  essential  was  to  reach  Washington 
without  delay,  and  make  it  secure. 

When  the  first  alarm  about  the  safety  of  Washington 
was  relieved,  it  became  necessary  to  create  an  army. 
Recruits  were  gathered  in  all  the  States,  under  the 
president's  proclamation,  and  were  organized  into  regi 
ments  by  the  governors  of  the  States.  But  all  the  mate 
rials  of  war  had  to  be  collected  by  the  United  States 
Government.  Mr.  Buchanan's  secretary  of  war,  himself 
a  secessionist,  had  sent  several  hundred  thousand  mus 
kets  to  Southern  arsenals,  and  left  the  Northern 
arsenals  almost  bare.  It  was  the  same  with  cannon  and 
ammunition.  All  these,  therefore,  had  to  be  bought, 
or  manufactured  by  the  government,  at  very  short 


296  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

notice.  It  was  necessary  to  have  uniforms  made  for 
the  soldiers,  to  organize  a  supply  of  horses  and  army- 
wagons,  camp-equipage,  medicines,  and  provisions,  and 
to  provide  for  the  proper  distribution  of  these  to  the 
troops  in  such  way  that  there  should  be  no  waste  or 
want.  This  all  had  to  be  begun  at  once,  and  to  be 
completed  as  quickly  as  possible.  President  Lincoln 
also  issued  a  proclamation,  announcing  that  the  South 
ern  ports  were  blockaded,  and  forbidding  vessels  to 
enter  or  leave  them. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  troops  were  sent  from  Washing 
ton  into  Virginia,  some  being  ordered  to  Alexandria, 
some  to  Arlington  Heights  near  Washington.  Colonel 
Ellsworth,  the  youthful  commander  of  a  part  of  these 
troops,  seeing  a  rebel  flag  flying  from  a  hotel,  entered 
the  house  to  take  it  down,  and  was  shot  by  the  proprie 
tor.  He  was  well  known  in  the  Northern  cities  ;  and  his 
death  produced  much  indignation.  Fighting  soon  began 
in  both  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia.  In  Western  Vir 
ginia,  there  was  a  strong  Union  party  ;  and  the  rebel 
troops  were  finally  driven  out  in  a  series  of  engagements 
in  which  General  McClellan  was  the  chief  commander. 
In  Eastern  Virginia,  there  was  an  engagement  at  Big 
Bethel,  in  which  the  Union  troops  were  defeated  ;  but 
there  was  no  general  engagement  till  July.  Then  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Scott,  the  commander-in-chief,  made  a*n 
attempt  to  advance  on  Richmond  ;  and  his  troops,  under 
General  McDowell,  were  defeated  at  Bull  Run.  .This 
was  on  July  21  ;  some  thirty  thousand  troops  being 
engaged  on  each  side.  The  result  of  the  battle  had 
seemed  very  doubtful  until  three  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon,  when  re-enforcements  arrived  for  the  rebel  troops  ; 


RECOGNITION    OF   THE   CONFEDERACY.  297 

and  the  result  was  a  total  rout  of  the  Union  forces, 
which  retreated  in  great  disorder  to  Washington. 

Later  in  the  year,  there  was  a  smaller  battle  at  Ball's 
Bluff,  in  which  the  Union  troops  were  also  unsuccess 
ful.  Thus  the  war  opened  badly  in  Eastern  Virginia. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  rebel  troops  were  successfully 
driven  out  of  Northern  Missouri  by  General  Lyon ; 
and  some  important  expeditions  were  sent  to  different 
points  on  the  Southern  coast,  such  as  Fort  Hatteras  in 
Virginia,  and  Port  Royal  Harbor  in  South  Carolina. 
This  last  was  especially  important,  as  the  rebel  forces 
at  once  abandoned  most  of  the  posts  they  had  seized 
along  the  South  Atlantic  coast,  and  never  afterwards 
regained  them.  All  this  was  accomplished  in  1861. 
Towards  the  end  of  that  year,  Lieut.-Gen.  Winfield  Scott 
retired  from  the  command  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States,  and  was  succeeded  by  Major-Gen.  George  B. 
McClellan. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  war,  the  nav)  of  the 
United  States  had  to  be  greatly  enlarged.  At  the 
outset,  there  were  but  four  ships  available  for  service 
at  home,  with  less  than  three  hundred  sailors ;  yet  it 
was  necessary  to  have  a  force  large  enough  to  block 
ade  all  the  ports  of  the  seceded  States.  The  rebels 
sent  out  privateers  to  prey  upon  American  commerce ; 
and  these  privateers  were  protected  and  refitted  in 
foreign  ports,  especially  those  of  England.  That  na 
tion,  with  France,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  recognized  the 
seceded  States  as  having  the  rights  of  belligerents  ;  thus 
putting  the  Confederacy,  as  a  war  power,  on  the  same 
footing  with  the  National  Government.  War  with  Eng 
land  was  narrowly  avoided,  at  the  time  when  Messrs. 


298  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Mason  and  Slidell,  Confederate  commissioners,  were 
captured  by  a  United  States  vessel  from  an  English  mail- 
steamer,  Nov.  8,  1 86 1.  This  act,  being  found  to  be  con 
trary  to  the  law  of  nations,  was  promptly  disowned  by 
the  American  Government ;  and  peaceful  relations  were 
restored.  But  the  hopes  of  the  secessionists  were  sus 
tained  throughout  the  war  by  the  expectation  of  being 
recognized  and  assisted  by  foreign  governments. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1862  the  whole  Union 
army  amounted  to  more  than  five  hundred  thousand 
men,  almost  all  of  these  being  volunteers.  General 
McClellan,  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
marched  up  the  peninsula  formed  by  the  James  and 
York  Rivers,  to  attack  Richmond,  the  capital  of  the 
Confederate  Government ;  and  he  even  crossed  the 
Chickahominy  River.  When  his  advanced  guard,  under 
General  Casey,  was  at  Fair  Oaks,  within  six  miles  of 
Richmond,  it  was  attacked  (May  31,  1862),  and  driven 
back,  but  was  afterwards  re-enforced,  and  drove  the 
opposing  army  into  Richmond.  Some  eighty  thousand 
men  were  engaged  in  this  battle.  McClellan,  after 
remaining  two  months  in  camp,  decided  it  to  be  neces 
sary  to  withdraw  his  force,  and  change  his  base  of 
operations  to  the  James  River.  This  led  to  a  series  of 
attacks  from  the  Confederate  forces,  called  "  the  Seven- 
Days'  Battles  of  the  Peninsula  ; "  the  battle  at  Malvern 
Hills  (July  i,  1862)  being  the  severest,  and  resulting 
in  the  defeat  of  the  rebels.  In  these  battles  nearly  a 
hundred  thousand  men  were  engaged  on  each  side  ;  each 
losing  more  than  fifteen  thousand.  The  army  of  Gen 
eral  Banks  was  ordered  from  the  Shenandoah  Valley  to 
cover  the  change  of  position  on  the  part  of  McClellan. 


INVASION    OF    MARYLAND. 


299 


There  were  battles  at  Cedar  Mountain  and  Bull  Run. 
General  Lee  led  the  Confederate  army  across  the  Poto 
mac  into  Maryland,  capturing  Harper's  Ferry  and  Fred 
eric  City.  Whittier's  fine  poem,  "  Barbara  Frietchie," 
describes  an  incident  that  is  said  to  have  taken  place 
at  the  capture  of  this  city.  Finally  McClellan  en 
countered  Lee  at  Antietam,  Md.  (Sept  17,  1862),  in 


BARBARA    FRIETCHIE. 

one  of  the  severest  battles  of  the  war.//  One  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  men  were  engaged  in  it,  including 
both  armies.  The  Union  loss  in  this  battle  and  in 
that  of  South  Mountain,  which  took  place  just  before, 
was  more  than  fourteen  thousand ;  and  that  of  the 
rebels,  more  than  twelve  thousand.  The  Union  army 
was  victorious  ;  and,  during  the  following  night,  General 


300  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Lee  withdrew  his  troops  across  the  Potomac.  Great 
dissatisfaction  was  felt  with  General  McClellan  for 
permitting  this  retreat ;  and,  as  there  had  been  similar 
dissatisfaction  after  Fair  Oaks  and  Malvern,  he  was 
removed  from  command  in  November,  and  Gen.  Am 
brose  E.  Burnside  was  put  in  his  place,  at  the  head 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Eurnside  crossed  the 
Rappahannock,  and  took  Fredericksburg,  but  was 
obliged  to  retreat  again  with  heavy  losses. 

Thus  the  second  year  of  the  war  brought  little  prog 
ress  towards  the  immediate  end  of  the  contest,  —  the 
capture  of  the  Confederate  capital.  But  a  naval  con 
test  in  Virginia  waters  meanwhile  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  the  whole  nation,  and,  indeed,  of  the  civilized 
world.  The  Union  officers,  early  in  the  war,  had  aban 
doned  the  navy-yard  at  Norfolk,  and  destroyed  most  of 
the  vessels;  but  some  ships  had  escaped  destruction, 
and  among  them  the  "  Merrimack."  The  secessionists 
had  covered  this  vessel  with  railroad  iron  and  heavy 
timber,  and  had  furnished  her  with  a  bow  of  steel.  With 
this  she  attacked  the  Union  squadron  at  Hampton 
Roads.  The  wooden  frigates  assailed  her  in  vain. 
The  balls  struck  and  glanced  upward,  "  having  no  more 
effect  than  peas  from  a  pop-gun  ; "  and  at  the  end  of  the 
day  the  Union  frigate  "  Cumberland  "  had  gone  down, 
her  brave  commander  ordering  one  more  broadside  as 
she  sank ;  the  "  Congress  "  was  burned  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  the  "  Minnesota  "  was  aground.  So  matters 
stood,  when,  at  nine  in  the  evening,  a  little  vessel  of 
insignificant  appearance,  looking,  as  one  eye-witness 
has  said,  "  like  a  capsized  whale-ship,"  and,  as  another 
said,  "like  a  cheese-box  on  a  raft,"  steamed  into 


MONITOR    AND    MERRIMACK. 


3OI 


Hampton  Roads.  It  was  the  "  Monitor,"  commanded 
by  Capt.  John  L.  Worden,  and  invented  by  Captain 
Ericsson,  an  engineer  of  Swedish  birth.  In  the  morn 
ing  the  "  Merrimack "  got  under  way  again,  and  bore 
down  upon  the  frigate  that  lay  aground.  The  "  Moni 
tor,"  steaming  alongside  the  "Merrimack,"  opened  fire. 
The  "  ram  "  fired  in  return.  For  two  hours  the  contest 


MONITOR"  AND  "MERRIMACK.' 


lasted,  both  ships  using  more  powerful  ordnance  than 
had  ever  before  been  used  in  a  naval  encounter,  and 
this  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  ;  yet  the 
cannonade  was  useless.  Neither  produced  the  slight 
est  effect  on  the  other,  until  at  last  the  "  Monitor " 
sent  a  shell  through  a  porthole  of  her  antagonist,  doing 
severe  execution  among  the  crew.  After  that  the 


302  YOUNG    FOLKS'    UNITED   STATES. 

"Merrimack"  retreated,  leaving  the  victory  with  the 
little  "  Monitor."  The  whole  nation  was  relieved  when 
the  news  of  this  victory  came  ;  for,  if  the  "  Merri 
mack  "  had  been  left  free  to  enter  New  York  harbor,  it 
might  have  destroyed  every  wooden  vessel  in  port. 
The  general  substitution  of  iron  vessels  for  wooden,  in 
the  navies  of  the  world,  may  be  said  to  have  followed 
from  this  contest. 

While  these  things  were  going  on,  by  land  and  water, 
in  Virginia,  there  were  very  important  events  happen 
ing  elsewhere  in  the  war.  An  expedition  under  Gen 
eral  Burnside  captured  Roanoke  Island,  and  several 
important  points  in  North  Carolina.  The  Union  troops 
took  Fort  Pulaski  and  the  seaports  of  Eastern  Florida. 
On  the  Western  rivers  two  strongholds  were  taken,  — 
Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee,  and  Fort  Donelson  on 
the  Cumberland.  The  latter  was  besieged  by  General 
Grant ;  and,  on  the  Confederate  commander's  asking 
what  terms  the  Union  forces  would  accept,  the  message 
was  returned,  "  Unconditional  surrender  ; "  which  after 
wards  became  the  nickname  of  General  Grant. 

After  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  the  Confederate 
troops  abandoned  Nashville,  the  capital  of  Tennessee, 
and  were  driven  from  a  strongly-fortified  island  in  the 
Mississippi  River,  called  "Island  No.  10."  A  severe 
battle  took  place  at  Pittsburg  Landing  (April  6,  1862), 
between  the  Union  forces  under  Grant,  and  the  Con 
federate  forces  under  Johnston  and  Beauregard.  On 
the  first  day  General  Grant  was  driven  from  his  posi 
tion  with  severe  loss ;  but  on  the  second  day,  with  th^ 
aid  of  re-enforcements  under  General  Buell,  the  Union 
troops  recaptured  the  camps  from  which  they  had  been 


CAPTURE   OF    NEW    ORLEANS. 


dislodged.  More  than  a  hundred  thousand  men  were 
engaged  in  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing ;  and  there 
were  about  ten  thousand  killed  and  wounded  on  each 
side.  r\J^" 

One  of  the  most  important  warlike  exploits  of  this 
year  was  the  taking  of  New  Orleans  by  a  naval  force, 
under  Commodore  Farragut,  aided  by  a  land  force, 
under  General  Butler.  The  city  was  very  strongly  de 
fended.  Seventy-five  miles  below  it,  there  were  two 
strong  forts ;  and  below 
these  a  chain  was  stretched 
across  the  river,  with  earth 
works  at  each  end.  Be 
tween  the  forts  and  the 
chain  there  were  five  rafts 
filled  with  inflammable  ma 
terials, — besides  thirteen 
gunboats,  an  iron-clad  float 
ing  battery,  and  an  iron 
"ram."  Commodore  Far 
ragut  Cannonaded  the  fortS  COMMODORE  FARRAGUT. 

in  vain,  but  saved  his  vessels  from  the  burning  rafts  by 
seizing  and  extinguishing  each  as  it  floated  down.  At 
last  he  decided  to  attempt  to  run  by  the  forts  with  his 
fleet.  He  accordingly  got  under  way  on  April  24,  1862  ; 
and  while  the  forts,  the  steamers,  and  the  battery,  all 
poured  their  fire  upon  the  fleet,  it  steamed  steadily  up 
the  river  till  the  danger  was  passed.  A  single  Union 
vessel,  the  "  Varuna,"  sunk  or  disabled  six  rebel  steam 
ers  ;  and  Farr&gut  anchored  off  the  quarantine  station 
that  eveningrC  The  next  morning  he  reached  the  city, 
and  took  possession  ;  and  the  forts  and  fleet  in  the 


3°4 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


river  were  surrendered  a  few  days  after.  On  May  i 
General  Butler,  with  a  land  force,  entered  New  Orleans, 
and  proclaimed  martial  law.  Farragut  afterwards 
penetrated  farther  up  the  river  ;  and,  though  Vicksburg 
held  out  some  time  longer,  the  control  of  the  lower 
Mississippi  was  thenceforth  secured  to  the  government. 
But  the  most  important  occurrence  of  this  year  was 


COMMODORE    FARRAGUT    PASSING   THE    FORTS    BELOW    NEW   ORLEANS. 

a  political  event,  — the  President's  proclamation  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves.  The  war  had  not  been  origi 
nally  waged  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  to  preserve 
the  Union  ;  and  when  Union  generals  —  Fre'mont, 
Phelps,  and  Hunter —  had,  at  different  times  and  places, 
undertaken  to  set  free  the  slaves  of 'rebel  masters,  the 
President  had  revoked  their  action,  or  limited  it  to  the 


EMANCIPATION    PROCLAMATION.  305 

slaves  actually  employed  against  the  government.  It 
proved,  at  last,  necessary  to  declare  freedom  to  the 
slaves;  and  on  Sept.  22, 1862,  President  Lincoln  issued 
this  proclamation :  — 

"  That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all 
persons  held  as'  slaves  within  any  State,  or  designated 
part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then, 
thenceforth,  and  forever  free ;  and  the  Executive  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military 
and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main 
tain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act 
or  acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any 
effort  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom." 

In  his  message  to  Congress,  the  President  thus  ex 
plained  this  act :  — 

"  In  giving  freedom  to  the  slave,  we  assure  freedom 
to  the  free,  honorable  alike  in  what  we  give  and  what 
we  preserve.  We  shall  nobly  save,  or  meanly  lose,  the 
last  best  hope  of  earth.  .  .  .  The  way  is  plain,  peace 
ful,  glorious,  just,  —  a  way,  which,  if  followed,  the  world 
will  forever  applaud,  and  God  must  forever  bless." 

Almost  at  the  same  time  with  this  proclamation,  the 
policy  of  raising  colored  troops  began  to  be  systemati 
cally  adopted  by  the  government.  Already  in  May, 
1862,  Gen.  David  Hunter  had  organized  in  South  Caro 
lina,  on  his  own  responsibility,  a  regiment  of  blacks  ; 
and,  though  the  government  had  disbanded  the  regi 
ment,  one  company  had  been  allowed  to  remain  in  ser 
vice,  and  became  the  nucleus  of  the  First  South  Caro 
lina  Volunteers,  raised,  with  official  authority,  by  Gen. 

30 


306  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Rufus  Saxton,  in  October.  During  the  same  summer 
the  First  Kansas  Colored  began  to  be  enlisted  by  Gen 
eral  Lane  in  Kansas.  These  were  the  first  regiments 
composed  of  freed  slaves.  General  Butler  had,  how 
ever,  found  some  regiments  of  free  colored  troops  partly 
organized  for  the  Confederate  service  in  New  Orleans, 
and  had  taken  them  into  the  Union  service. 

On  New  Year's  Day,  1863,  President  Lincoln  issued 
a  second  proclamation,  confirming  his  earlier  one,  and 
declaring  the  freedom  of  the  slaves.  Early  in  the  year 
General  Hooker  succeeded  General  Burnside  in  com 
mand  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  but  was  defeated 
by  General  Lee  at  Chancellorsville,  Va.  In  this  battle 
fell  General  Jackson,  called  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson,  the 
most  popular  of  the  Confederate  generals.  A  period 
of  great  re-action  and  discouragement  followed.  The 
cost  of  the  war  for  the  Union  had  become  enormous  ; 
and  large  bounties  had  to  be  paid  for  soldiers,  bringing 
into  the  service  many  "  bounty-jumpers,"  as  they  were 
called,  who  enlisted  merely  for  money,  and  soon  de 
serted  to  enlist  again.  At  one  time  more  than  two 
hundred  a  day  were  deserting  from  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  Soldiers  were  being  drafted  ;  but  the  draft 
was  very  unpopular.  Under  these  circumstances  Gen 
eral  Lee  resolved  to  invade  the  Northern  States.  He 
marched  down  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  across  the 
Potomac,  and  towards  Chambersburg.  Near  Gettys 
burg  his  advance  encountered  the  Union  cavalry  ;  and 
a  general  battle  was  brought  on,  without  having  been 
previously  intended  on  either  side.  The  Union  forces 
were  commanded  by  Gen.  George  G.  Meade.  The  bat 
tle  began  July  i,  and  lasted  three  days  ;  eighty  thousand 


SURRENDER    OF    VICKSRURG. 


307 


being  engaged  on  each  side,  and  the  loss  of  each  being 
more  than  twenty  thousand.  It  ended  in  the  defeat 
and  retreat  of  Lee,  and  put  an  end  fcjpever  to  the 
thought  of  an  invasion  of  the  North.^^kf^ 

The  battle  of  Gettysburg  may  be'/regarded  as  the 
turning-point  of  the  war.  At  the  moment  when  the 
last  charge  of  that  battle  was  being  repulsed,  General 


SURRENDER   OF  VICKSBURG. 


Grant  was  negotiating  for  the  surrender  of  the  strong 
hold  of  Vicksburg,  which  had,  up  to  that  time,  ren 
dered  the  Mississippi  impassable  for  vessels.  It  was 
the  most  important  fortified  place  in  the  south-west, 
being  on  a  high  bluff,  thoroughly  defended  by  batteries 
in  all  directions.  It  fell  after  a  siege  of  forty-seven 
clays,  being  surrendered  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  A 


308  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

cavalry  raid  by  Col.  B.  R.  Grierson  occurred  in  con 
nection  with  this  siege.  This  officer,  with  about  a  thou 
sand  cavalry,  swept  through  Mississippi,  traversing  in 
about  a  fortnight  four  hundredmiles  of  territory,  destroy 
ing  bridges  and  military  supplies.  The  Confederate 
General  Morgan  also  made  a  daring  raid  through  Ken 
tucky,  into  Indiana,  with  three  thousand  cavalry,  but 
was  defeated  and  captured  at  last. 

Port  Hudson,  which  had  been  besieged  by  General 
Banks  for  many  weeks,  was  obliged  to  surrender  soon 
after  Vicksburg  ;  and  the  Mississippi  River  was  now 
open  to  the  Union  vessels  once  more.  This  was  a 
great  step  forward.  But,  as  time  went  on,  it  grew  more 
and  more  difficult  to  raise  soldiers  for  the  war ;  and  the 
draft  was  in  many  quarters  bitterly  opposed.  In  New 
York  especially,  a  great  riot  took  place,  nominally  occa 
sioned  by  the  draft,  but  aimed  at  the  colored  people 
and  all  who  defended  them.  It  began  July  13,  and 
lasted  three  days ;  the  militia  regiments  of  the  city 
being  absent  for  the  defence  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
police  force  of  the  city  being  wholly  unable  to  preserve 
order.  Houses  were  burned,  including  an  orphan 
asylum  ;  and  negroes  were  pursued  and  killed  in  the 
streets. 

Later  in  the  year  General  Rosecrans,  with  a  large 
Union  force,  met  with  a  severe  defeat  at  Chickamauga 
in  Tennessee ;  and  his  army  was  besieged  at  Chatta 
nooga,  and  was  in  danger  of  starvation.  It  was,  how 
ever,  relieved  by  General  Grant  in  a  masterly  series  of 
movements,  including  a  three-days'  battle,  in  which  the 
Confederate  army  was  dislodged  from  a  series  of  strong 
positions  upon  the  mountains  which  surrounded  the 


BATTLES    IN   TENNESSEE.  309 

town.  "The  opening  movement  of  the  battle  was 
made  with  such  regularity  and  precision,  that  the  Con 
federate  troops  on  the  heights  above  took  it  for  a 
mere  review,  or  drill."  General  Thomas  captured 
Orchard  Knob ;  General  Hooker  scaled  the  heights  of 
Lookout  Mountain,  and  fought  a  battle  "  above  the 
clouds  ; "  General  Sherman  attacked  Missionary  Ridge ; 


BATTLE   OF    LOOKOUT    MOUNTAIN. 


and,  finally,  the  whole  army  ascended  the  mountain 
side,  under  severe  fire,  and  drove  the  opposing  force 
from  the  intrenchments  five  hundred  feet  above.  This 
was  Nov.  25,  1863.  The  loss  in  these  two  battles  was 
more  than  twenty  thousand  on  each  side.  Their  effect 
was  to  banish  the  Confederate  forces  from  Tennessee. 
During  this  time,  but  little  advance  had  been  made 


310  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

in  the  "  Department  of  the  South ; "  though  a  successful 
attack  on  Charleston,  S.C.,  had  been  made  by  Admiral 
Dupont  with  his  "  monitors,"  aided  by  General  Hunter 
on  land.  There  had  been  several  expeditions  up  the 
Southern  rivers,  within  the  Confederate  lines,  but  noth 
ing  on  a  large  scale,  until  the  arrival  of  General  Gill- 
more,  who  planned  a  regular  siege  of  Charleston, 
carried  on  chiefly  from  Folly  and  Morris  Islands, 
with  the  aid  of  cannon  of  very  long  range.  A  severe 
attack  and  repulse  took  place  at  Fort  Wagner  (July  18, 
1863),  in  which  the  colored  troops  were  placed  in  front ; 
and  their  brave  young  commander,  Colonel  Shaw,  was 
killed.  This  important  fort  was  taken  in  September ; 
and  the  siege  of  Charleston  became  more  close.  On 
the  whole,  the  prospects  of  the  war  for  the  Union  were 
more  favorable  at  the  end  of  1863-  "  Peace,"  said 
President  Lincoln  at  that  time,  "  does  not  appear  so 
distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will  come  soon,  and  come 
to  stay,  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  keeping  in  all 
future  time." 

Early  in  the  year  1864  some  daring  advances  within 
the  hostile  lines  took  place  on  both  sides,  but  without 
results.  General  Kilpatrick  led  his  cavalry  within 
three  miles  of  Richmond,  Va.  General  Seymour  occu 
pied  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  which  had  been  twice  before 
occupied  and  abandoned  ;  and  he  was  proceeding  far 
ther  into  the  State,  when  he  was  checked  at  the  severe 
battle  of  Olustee,  Feb.  20.  General  Banks,  in  the 
South-west,  conducted  an  expedition  up  the  Red  River, 
but  was  defeated  and  driven  back  ;  his  gunboats  being 
greatly  endangered  by  the  falling  of  the  river,  and 
being  saved  only  by  the  skill  of  a  volunteer  officer, 


PROMOTION  OF  GENERAL  GRANT.        311 

Colonel  Bailey,  who  built  dams  across  the  stream, 
and  floated  the  vessels  down.  At  the  very  time  of 
the  Red  River  expedition,  the  Confederate  general, 
Forrest,  made  a  raid  into  Tennessee  and  Kentucky, 
captured  Fort  Pillow  (April  12),  and  massacred  three 
hundred  colored  soldiers  who  formed  a  part  of  its 
garrison.  Jfc 

But  the  /event  of  greatest  importance  during  this 
year  was  the  appointment  of  General  Grant  to  the 
command  of  all  the  armies 
(March  17),  with  the  title 
of  lieutenant-general.  He 
soon  planned  two  great 
movements,  which  were  to 
proceed  at  the  same  time. 
One  of  these  was  to  be  di 
rected  against  Richmond, 
Va.,  by  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  which  was  com 
manded  by  General  Meacle, 
but  under  General  Grant's  GENERAL  GRANT. 

immediate  supervision.  The  other  was  under  the 
exclusive  charge  of  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  who  under 
took  to  march  an  army  across  the  interior  of  the  States 
in  rebellion,  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea.  «v 

When  General  Grant's  movements  in  Virginia  began, 
he  wrote  to  President  Lincoln,  "  I  propose  to  fight  it 
out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all'  summer  ; "  and,  though 
he  was  obliged  to  change  his  position  more  than  once, 
he  still  persevered.  In  May  and  June,  he  sustained 
terrible  losses  in  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  of 
Spottsylvania,  and  of  Cold  Harbor,  losing  seventy 


3i2  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

thousand  men  in  all.  He  laid  siege  unsuccessfully  to 
Richmond,  and,  in  spite  of  the  aid  given  in  a  brilliant 
raid  by  General  Sheridan,  the  whole  campaign  of 
Grant  in  1864  was  discouraging.  Meanwhile  the  Con 
federate  general,  Early,  with  twenty  thousand  men, 
made  a  raid  into  Pennsylvania  in  July,  and  burned  the 
town  of  Chambersburg ;  and  an  incursion  was  also 
made  into  the  town  of  St.  Albans,  Vt.,  by  some  Con 
federates  from  Canada,  who  took  the  inhabitants  by 
surprise,  robbed  the  banks,  and  retreated.  General 
Early  was  pursued  by  General  Sheridan,  and  defeated 
at  Cedar  Creek  on  Oct.  19.  The  forces  of  Sheridan 
had  been  attacked  by  Early  during  the  temporary 
absence  of  their  commander,  and  had  been  driven 
four  miles  with  heavy  loss.  Sheridan  had  news  of 
the  fight  when  at  Winchester,  twenty  miles  away,  and 
rode  that  distance  at  a  furious  speed.  Meeting  his 
retreating  troops,  he  rallied  them,  and  turned  the  de 
feat  into  victory,  capturing  fifty  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
many  prisoners.  This  event  has  been  made  the  sub 
ject  of  a  ballad,  called  "  Sheridan's  Ride,"  by  Buchan 
an  Read. 

At  sea,  the  Confederate  privateers  had  for  some 
time  been  very  destructive  to  American  merchant- 
vessels.  The  "  Shenandoah  "  had  destroyed  thirty-four 
whale-ships  in  the  arctic  seas  ;  and  the  "  Alabama " 
had  taken  sixty-five  vessels.  American  ships  had 
almost  been  driven  from  the  ocean,  or  had  been  trans 
ferred  to  British  ownership  for  protection.  The  Con 
federate  privateers  had  escaped  meeting  United  States 
men-of-war,  until  the  "  Alabama  "  was  attacked  by  the 
"  Kearsarge,"  Captain  Winslow,  off  the  coast  of  Cher- 


NAVAL    ACTIONS.  313 

bourg,  France,  June  19,  1864.  During  the  action,  the 
two  vessels  were  steaming  at  the  rate  of  seven  miles 
an  hour,  and  swinging  round  one  another  in  circles,  so 
as  to  bring  their  broadsides  to  bear.  After  they  had 
described  seven  of  these  circles,  and  had  come  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  one  another,  the  "  Alabama " 


SHERIDAN  S   RIDE. 


was  sunk  ;  Captain  Semmes  and  his  men  being  picked 
up  by  an  English  yacht,    /ir— 

Another  brilliant  naval  action  during  this  year  was 
that  won  in  Mobile  Bay  by  Admiral  Farragut,  Aug.  5. 
The  bay  was  a  great  resort  for  blockade-runners :  it  was 
defended  by  two  forts,  by  torpedoes  set  in  the  narrow 
channel,  and  by  an  iron-plated  ram  of  great  power, 


3H 


YOUNG   FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 


—  the  "Tennessee."  Farragut  had  to  meet  these  ob 
stacles  with  wooden  ships,  aided  by  a  few  "  monitors," 
one  of  which  was  soon  struck  by  a  torpedo,  and  went 
down  with  her  crew.  Farragut  had  provided  false 
bows  of  iron  with  which  his  wooden  ships  might  charge 
the  ram ;  and  this  dangerous  vessel  was  at  length  dis 
abled,  and  surrendered  with  the  forts. 


DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    "ALBEMARLE." 

Still  another  encounter,  and  probably  the  most 
daring  naval  action  of  the  war,  was  that  in  which  a 
powerful  ram,  the  "  Albemarle,"  was  destroyed  at 
night  (Oct.  27,  1864)  by  a  torpedo  from  a  steam-launch 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Gushing,  who  had  volun 
teered  for  this  dangerous  duty.  His  boat  was  itself 
sunk  by  the  shock  of  the  torpedo ;  and  only  the  com' 


SHERMAN'S  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA.  315 

mander  and  one  of  his  crew  were  saved,  —  by  swim 
ming,  —  under  close  fire  from  the  ram. 

But  the  main  event  of  this  year  was  the  campaign  of 
General  Sherman  in  Tennessee,  and  his  march  across 
the  State  of  Georgia  to  Savannah.  The  object  was  to 
cut  off  the  supplies  of  the  Confederates,  and  break  up 
their  railroad  communications.  The  campaign  began 
early  in  May,  1864.  Sherman  had  to  conduct  his  army 
through  a  series  of  mountain  regions  and  passes  bris 
tling  with  fortifications,  which  had  to  be  carried  with 
great  loss.  He  took  the  important  town  of  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  and  then  began  his  famous  "  March  to  the  Sea." 
His  course  lay  through  a  fertile  region,  where  the  army 
of  sixty  thousand  men  advanced  in  two  columns,  under 
Generals  Howard  and  Slocum,  subsisting  largely  on 
what  could  be  found  in  the  country  passed  through. 
After  a  march  of  three  hundred  miles,  they  reached  the 
sea,  and  established  communication  with  the  forces  at 
Hilton  Head  under  General  Foster,  and  with  the  fleet 
under  Admiral  Dahlgren.  The  Confederate  forces  re 
treated  from  Savannah,  and  the  Union  Army  entered  it ; 
and  General  Sherman  wrote  to  President  Lincoln,  "  I 
beg  to  present  to  you  as  a  Christmas  gift  the  city  of 
Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns,  and 
plenty  of  ammunition,  and  also  twenty-five  thousand 
bales  of  cotton."  He  had  lost,  in  the  march,  only  sixty- 
three  killed,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-five  wounded. 

In  January,  1865,  General  Sherman  resumed  his 
"  Great  March,"  from  Savannah  northward.  He  him 
self  wrote,  "  Christmas  found  us  at  Savannah.  Waiting 
there  only  long  enough  to  fill  our  wagons,  we  began 
another  march,  which  for  peril,  labor,  and  results,  will, 


316  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

compare  with  any  ever  made  by  an  organized  army. 
The  floods  of  the  Savannah,  the  swamps  of  the  Com- 
bahee  and  the  Edisto,  the  high  hills  and  rocks  of  the 
Santee,  the  flat  quagmires  of  the  Pedee  and  Cape  Fear 
Rivers,  were  all  passed  in  midwinter,  with  its  floods 
and  rain,  in  the  face  of  an  accumulating  enemy ;  and, 
after  the  battles  of  Averysborough  and  Bentonsville,  we 
once  more  came  out  of  the  wilderness  to  meet  our 
friends  at  Goldsborough/'jH 

He  met  these  "  friends  "  —  the  troops  under  General 
Schofield —  on  the  23d  of  March.  Sherman  had  proved 
by  this  exploit  that  the  Confederacy  had  now  become, 
as  he  said,  "  an  empty  shell ; "  the  men  having  been 
necessarily  withdrawn  from  the  interior  of  the  country 
to  defend  its  borders.  His  triumphant  success  helped 
to  give  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  war. 

This  march  aided,  also,  in  the  capture  of  Charleston, 
which  had  now  been  besieged  for  more  than  five  hun 
dred  days.  It  was  finally  abandoned  (Feb.  17)  by  the 
Confederate  forces  ;  fires  being  first  set  in  different 
parts  of  the  city.  Some  other  successes  took  place 
this  year,  especially  the  capture,  by  General  Terry,  of 
Fort  Fisher,  which  protected  Wilmington,  N.C.  But 
these  were  only  preliminary  to  the  final  movement  of 
General  Grant  against  Richmond.  ^H^ 

On  March  29,  1865,  the  movement  of  Grant's  army 
began.  He  had  become  satisfied,  both  by  his  own 
observation  and  by  the  success  of  Sherman's  attempt, 
that  the  Confederate  armies  were  nearly  exhausted,  and 
that  a  resolute  effort  would  bring  the  war  to  a  close. 
Placing  Sheridan  in  command  of  all  the  cavalry  of  the 
army,  he  sent  out  this  daring  officer  with  this  order: 


CAPTURE    OF    RICHMOND.  317 

"  In  the  morning  push  round  the  enemy,  and  get  to  his 
rear."  Accordingly,  on  April  i,  1865,  Sheridan,  aided 
by  Warren  and  Humphreys,  fought  the  decisive  battle 
of  Five  Forks,  turning  the  flank  of  Lee's  army,  and 
taking  five  thousand  prisoners.  Two  days  after,  Peters 
burg  and  Richmond  were  occupied  by  the  Union  forces. 
When  General  Lee  found  that  he  could  no  longer 
hold  his  position  at  Petersburg,  he  telegraphed  to 
Jefferson  Davis  at  Richmond,  "  My  lines  are  broken 
in  three  places.  Richmond  must  be  evacuated  this 
evening."  The  despatch  reached  Mr.  Davis  on  Sun 
day,  in  church,  and  was  handed  to  him  amid  the  silence 
of  the  congregation.  He  hastily  left  the  church  ;  and 
the  rumor  was  instantly  spread,  that  the  city  was  to  be 
abandoned.  In  a  few  hours  wagons  were  seen  at  the 
department  offices,  carrying  boxes  away ;  and  soon  the 
streets  were  full  of  men,  hurrying  from  the  city,  and 
carrying  with  them  their  valuables  in  all  manner  of 
conveyances.  The  sum  of  a  hundred  dollars  in  gold 
was  offered  for  a  wagon.  Vast  stores  of  provisions 
were  sent  away  to  the  retreating  army ;  and  all  that  was 
left  was  freely  distributed  among  the  people,  black  and 
white.  The  city  council  gave  orders  to  destroy  all  the 
liquor  in  the  city  to  prevent  intoxication  ;  but  much  of 
it  was  seized  by  the  soldiers,  and  made  the  confusion 
worse.  Four  large  tobacco-houses  were  set  on  fire  by 
the  military  authorities ;  the  shipping  was  fired,  or 
blown  up ;  and  the  bridges  were  also  in  flames.  A 
scene  of  the  wildest  excitement  raged  that  night  in  the 
city.  On  the  next  day  (April  3)  Richmond  was  occu 
pied  by  colored  troops  of  the  Union  army,  under 
General  Weitzel ;  and  the  Confederacy  had  no  longer 
a  capital. 


318  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Lee  made  courageous  efforts  to  retreat  with  his  army ; 
but  he  was  closely  followed  up  by  Sheridan,  and  the 
pressure  of  hunger  and  exhaustion  upon  his  troops  was 
so  severe,  that,  as  an  eye-witness  said,  "  Hundreds 
dropped  from  exhaustion,  and  thousands  let  fall  their 
muskets  from  inability  to  carry  them  farther."  On  the 
9th  of  April,  1865,  at  Appomattox  Court-House,  Lee 
surrendered  his  army  to  Grant,  on  terms  honorable  to 
both  parties.  His  surrender  was  soon  followed  by  that 
of  the  other  Confederate  generals.  Jefferson  Davis  was 
captured  in  Georgia,  disguised  in  woman's  clothing; 
and  the  Great  Rebellion,  or  civil  war,  was  at  an  end. 
It  had  lasted  four  years ;  had  cost  during  the  last  year 
more  than  three  million  dollars  a  day ;  and  left  the 
United  States  with  a  debt  of  more  than  two  billion 
seven  hundred  million  dollars  ($2,749,491,745).  It  had 
also  cost  more  than  half  a  million  lives,  including  both 
sides.  But  it  had  abolished  slavery,  a  most  important 
result,  and  one  that  few  men  could  have  anticipated. 
And  it  had  established  the  principle,  that  the  United 
States  must  be  regarded  as  a  nation  one  and  indivisi 
ble,  and  not  as  a  mere  alliance  of  independent  States. 

It  had  also  proved,  what  some  had  doubted,  that  the 
strength,  courage,  and  patriotism  of  the  American  peo 
ple,  were  still  as  great  as  in  the  period  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  There  were  few  families,  North  or  South,  which 
did  not  suffer  some  bereavement  during  the  long  con 
test.  On  both  sides  the  self-devotion  of  the  women 
at  home  equalled  that  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field ;  and 
in  the  Northern  States,  especially,  the  multitudes  of 
women  who  worked  for  the  "  Sanitary  Commission  " 
rendered  very  valuable  services  to  their  country. 


SINCERITY   OF   THE   SOUTH.  319 

The  sacrifices  made  during  the  civil  war  were  as 
great  as  those  made  in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  while 
the  armies  and  the  battles  were  on  a  far  larger  scale. 
The  Confederate  army  was,  from  the  beginning,  out 
numbered  by  its  opponents ;  but  it  had  greatly  the 
advantage  of  position,  since  it  is  far  easier  to  defend 
any  region  than  to  conquer  it.  Each  side  learned  to 
respect  the  courage  and  resources  of  the  other,  and  to 
feel,  that,  if  Americans  were  once  re-united,  no  foreign 
power  could  ever  endanger  their  liberties.  It  was  not, 
indeed,  possible  that  those  who  had  fought  for  the  flag 
of  their  country  could  pay  equal  honor  to  those  who 
tried  to  strike  it  down.  But  they  could  remember  that 
most  of  these  mistaken  men  had  been  taught  from 
childhood  that  their  first  allegiance  was  due  to  their 
own  State,  not  to  the  United  States ;  so  that  they  felt 
themselves  loyal,  in  their  own  way,  even  when  fighting 
against  their  nation.  This  delusion  ended,  let  us  hope, 
with  the  war ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  remember  it,  in 
order  to  do  justice  to  those  who  fought  for  the  Confed 
erate  side.  So  far  as  the  object  of  the  secessionists  was 
to  retain  possession  of  their,  slaves,  no  excuse  is  to  be 
made  for  them,  except  that  the  Union  Government  did 
not  itself  order  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  until 
compelled  to  it  by  military  necessity.  For  the  cruelties 
inflicted  by  the  Confederates  on  Union  prisoners  during 
the  war,  no  excuse  at  all  is  to  be  made,  nor  for  deeds 
like  the  massacre  of  colored  troops  at  Fort  Pillow.  But 
these  were,  after  all,  the  acts  of  a  few ;  and  the  general 
feeling  in  both  armies  was,  no  doubt,  that  of  sincere 
and  manly  opponents. 

No  one  has  ever  expressed  the  feelings  of  thoughtful 


320  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

and  conscientious  men  at  the  close  of  the  war,  so 
simply  and  impressively  as  did  President  Lincoln  in  his 
second  Inaugural  Address,  just  before  the  fall  of  Rich 
mond.  The  following  is  a  portion  of  this  address  :  — 

"  Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude 
or  the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither 
anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease 
with,  or  even  before,  the  conflict  itself  should  cease. 
Each  looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less 
fundamental  and  astounding. 

"  Both  read  the  same  Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same 
God  ;  and  each  invokes  his  aid  against  the  other.  It 
may  seem  strange  that  any  men  should  dare  to  ask  a 
just  God's  assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from  the 
sweat  of  other  men's  faces ;  but  let  us  judge  not,  that 
we  be  not  judged.  The  prayers  of  both  could  not  be 
answered.  That  of  neither  has  been  answered  fully. 
The  Almighty  has  his  own  purposes.  *  Woe  unto  the 
world  because  of  offences,  for  it  must  needs  be  that 
offences  come ;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the 
offence  cometh.'  If  we  shall  suppose  that  American 
slavery  is  one  of  these  offences,  which,  in  the  provi 
dence  of  God,  must  needs  come,  but  which,  having  con 
tinued  through  his  appointed  time,  he  now  wills  to 
remove,  and  that  he  gives  to  both  North  and  South 
this  terrible  war  as  the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the 
offence  came,  shall  we  discern  therein  any  departure 
from  those  divine  attributes  which  the  believers  in  a 
living  God  always  ascribe  to  him  ?  Fondly  do  we  hope, 
fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war 
may  soon  pass  away.  Yet  if  God  wills  that  it  con 
tinue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  two 


EXTRACT    FROM    MR.    LINCOLN'S    ADDRESS.          321 

hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be 
sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the 
lash  shall  be  paid  with  another  drawn  with  the  sword  ; 
as  was  said  three  thousand  years  ago,  so  still  it  must 
be  said,  '  The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and 
righteous  altogether.' 

"  With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up 
the  nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have 
borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphans, 
to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a 
lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

\\ 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

AFTER   THE   CIVIL   WAR. GRANT. 

THERE  was  joy,  with  thanksgiving,  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  nation,  when  the  news  of 
Lee's  surrender  came  over  the  telegraphic  wires,  and  it 
was  known  that  the  weary  war  had  ended.  Five  days 
after  (April  14,  1865),  the  same  wires  sent  far  and  wide 
another  message,  turning  joy  into  mourning.  It  was 
the  news  that  President  Lincoln  had  been  shot  while  sit 
ting  in  the  theatre  at  Washington,  by  an  assassin,  Wilkes 
Booth.  A  similar  attempt  was  made  upon  the  life  of 
Mr.  Seward,  the  secretary  of  state  ;  and  there  was 
evidence  of  a  plot  to  remove  all  the  leading  members 
of  the  government.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  plot 
extended  far,  or  that  any  of  the  Confederate  leaders 
were  responsible  for  it.  But  no  one  knew,  at  the  time, 
how  far  it  might  reach  ;  and  so  the  excitement  was  very 
great,  apart  from  the  lamentation. 

President  Lincoln  had  greatly  endeared  himself  to 
the  nation  during  his  difficult  term  of  office.  No 
president  since  Washington  had  been  put  to  so  severe 
a  test  ',  and  no  president,  unless  it  were  Washington, 
had  so  thoroughly  won  the  confidence  of  the  people. 
His  simplicity,  honesty,  and  fidelity,  his  fearless  pur 
pose,  sympathetic  heart,  and  quaint  humor,  had  never 
322 


AFTER   THE   CIVIL    WAR.  323 

failed  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  war  ;  and  he  had 
been  elected  by  an  overwhelming  vote  to  a  second 
term  of  office.  Every  one  felt  that  great  and  difficult 
problems  were  before  the  nation,  now  that  peace  had 
come ;  and  everybody  looked  to  the  future  with  more 
confidence,  from  having  Abraham  Lincoln  as  Chief 
Magistrate.  When  the  news  of  his  death  came,  the 
mourning  extended  through  all  parties,  and  to  all  re 
gions  of  the  country,  even  to  the  States  lately  in  insur 
rection.  The  colored  people,  especially,  felt  that  they 
had  lost  more  than  a  father.  And  when  the  funeral 
procession  of  the  president  passed  slowly,  by  railway, 
with  frequent  pauses,  from  Washington  to  his  former 
home  in  Springfield,  111.,  it  found  every  railway  station 
filled  with  mourners,  and  draped  with  signs  of  grief. 

But  it  showed  the  strength  of  republican  government, 
that  even  this  sudden  death  of  the  head  of  the  nation 
produced  no  confusion,  and  no  new  rebellion.  Vice- 
President  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee  at  once  took 
the  place  of  Mr.  Lincoln ;  and  the  wheels  of  govern 
ment  went  on.  The  new  president  found  difficult  duties 
awaiting  him.  To  be  sure,  some  things  that  had  seemed 
likely  to  be  hard  proved  easy.  It  had  been  predicted 
that  the  volunteer  army  of  a  million  men,  drawn  from 
the  people,  would  not  easily  be  merged  into  the  people 
again,  but  would  retain  warlike  habits,  and  be  danger 
ous  to  the  peace  of  the  country.  This  fear  proved 
groundless:  soldiers  and  officers  were  alike  glad  to 
lay  down  their  arms,  and  to  return  to  the  peaceful  pur 
suits  whence  they  came.  But  there  was  a  vast  debt 
to  be  provided  for;  and  loans  and  taxes  had  to  be 
planned  for  this  purpose.  Then  all  the  region  lately 


324  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

in  rebellion  had  to  be  re-organized  into  a  peaceful 
community ;  and  opinions  varied  greatly  as  to  the  best 
way  of  doing  this.  Some  thought  that  the  seceding 
States  had  a  right  to  come  back  whenever  they  would, 
with  their  former  power,  and  without  any  new  condi 
tions.  Others  thought,  that,  by  seceding,  they  had  for 
feited  all  rights  as  States,  and  had  again  become  Terri 
tories,  with  which  the  United  States  Government  might 
do  as  it  would.  But  neither  of  these  views  was  fully 
adopted. 

To  begin  with,  the  President  issued  a  proclamation 
granting  amnesty,  or  pardon,  to  most  of  those  engaged 
in  the  Rebellion.  Then  Congress  established  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  an  organization  to  provide  for 
the  loyal  and  suffering  classes,  black  or  white,  of  the 
Southern  States.  Slavery  was  then  formally  abolished 
by  an  amendment  to  the  United  States  Constitution ; 
and  another  amendment  was  passed,  looking  toward  the 
enfranchisement  of  the  colored  people.  "  Reconstruc 
tion  acts "  were  passed,  restoring  the  seceded  States 
to  their  places  in  the  Union,  on  condition  that  they 
should  annul  their  acts  of  secession,  declare  void  all 
debts  incurred  in  fighting  for  the  Rebellion,  and  adopt 
the  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slavery.  The 
new  president  was  very  much  opposed  to  making  any 
of  these  conditions,  as  he  held  that  the  seceded  States 
had  a  right  to  come  back  at  any  time,  unrestrained. 
He,  therefore,  vetoed  several  of  these  measures ;  and, 
though  they  were  passed  over  his  veto,  it  led  to  an 
increasing  hostility  between  him  and  Congress.  Finally, 
there  was  an  attempt  made  to  "impeach"  him,  and 
cause  his  removal  from  office.  For  the  first  time  in 


JOHNSON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  325 

the  history  of  the  government,  a  president  of  the 
United  States  was  put  on  trial  before  the  Senate,  sitting 
as  a  court  of  impeachment,  with  the  chief  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  presiding.  In  such  a  trial,  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  is  needed  for  conviction ; 
and,  as  one  vote  was  wanting  to  this  number,  Mr. 
Johnson  was  not  removed.  He  was  not,  however,  re- 
elected  as  president. 

During  his  and  his  predecessor's  terms,  there  had 
happened  events  more  important  than  any  since  the 
United  States  had  existed.  A  great  civil  war  had  been 
fought  and  ended  ;  and  slavery  had  been  abolished, 
first  by  presidential  proclamation,  and  then  by  consti 
tutional  amendment,  —  an  event  which  the  most  far- 
sighted  philanthropist  had  scarcely  expected  to  live  to 
see.  For  other  events,  three  States  had  been  added  to 
the  Union.  One  of  these,  West  Virginia,  had  been  sep 
arated  from  the  "Old  Dominion,"  and  admitted  as  a 
separate  State,  in  1863  ;  this  being  done  by  request  of 
the  inhabitants,  who  were  loyal  throughout  the  war. 
The  other  two  States  were  Nevada  (1864),  formed  out 
of  territory  ceded  by  Mexico,  and  named  from  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  or  Snowy  Mountains ;  and  Nebraska 
(1867),  formed  out  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  and 
named  from  an  Indian  word  meaning  "  Shallow  River." 
The  great  region  called  Alaska  had  been  also  pur 
chased  from  the  Russian  Government,  in  1867,  for  more 
than  seven  million  dollars  ($7,200,000);  and,  though 
not  likely  to  be  largely  inhabited  by  any  but  an  Esqui 
mau  population,  it  was  expected  to  be  of  great  value 
for  its  furs.  Its  area  was  about  half  a  million  square 
miles  (577,390),  and  brought  the  whole  area  of  the 


326  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

nation  to  about  three  and  a  half  million  square  miles 
(3,559,091),  instead  of  the  original  eight  hundred  thou 
sand  (820,680).  Instead  of  the  original  thirteen  States, 
with  three  millions  of  people,  there  are  now  thirty-seven 
States  and  twelve  Territories,  with  a  population  (in 
1870)  of  more  than  thirty-eight  millions  (38,558,371). 

The  next  president  of  the  United  States  was  Ulysses 
S.  Grant  of  Illinois,  whose  great  services  during  the  civil 
war  had  won  for  him  the  gratitude  of  the  nation.  He 
was  first  inaugurated  in  1869,  and  entered  on  a  second 
term  in  1873 ;  but  the  events  of  his  administration  are 
yet  too  recent  to  be  fully  or  fairly  described.  Much 
has,  however,  taken  place  since  he  entered  upon  his 
term  of  office.  All  the  seceded  States  have  been 
finally  restored  to  the  Union.  The  successive  steps 
by  which  the  great  increase  of  territory  was  brought 
about  will  be  found  marked  on  the  map  which  is  pre 
fixed  to  this  volume.  The  enormous  debt  incurred  dur 
ing  the  war  has  been  greatly  diminished  ;  more  than 
one-fifth  of  it  (six  hundred  million  dollars)  having 
been  paid.  An  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (the 
Fifteenth),  providing  that  the  right  of  suffrage  shall  not 
be  withheld  from  any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  "  on 
account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servi 
tude,"  was  declared  adopted  March  30,  1870,  having 
been  proposed  by  Congress,  and  ratified  by  three-fourths 
of  the  States.  A  treaty  was  made  with  Great  Britain 
(May  8,  1871),  providing  for  an  international  tribunal 
to  be  held  at  Geneva,  which  should  decide  all  claims  of 
the  United  States  for  damages  done  by  those  Confed 
erate  privateers  which  had  been  built  or  refitted  in 
English  ports.  This  tribunal  awarded  fifteen  and  a 


GRANT'S  ADMINISTRATION.  327 

half  million  dollars,  in  gold,  as  the  amount  to  be  paid  by 
Great  Britain ;  and  it  was  accordingly  paid  in  1873. 
This  was  a  result  very  encouraging  to  those  who  hope 
that  wars  will  gradually  cease,  and  the  disputes  of  na 
tions,  like  those  of  individuals,  be  left  to  the  courts  to 
settle.  Never  before,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  was 
there  so  important  an  example  of  peaceful  arbitration. 

Nearly  ten  years  have  now  passed  (1875)  smce  the 
great  civil  war  ended.  During  this  time  the  leading 
statesmen  of  the  war  have  passed  away.  President 
Lincoln  himself ;  William  H.  Seward,  his  Secretary  of 
State  ;  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War ;  Salmon 
P.  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  afterwards 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  and  Charles 
Sumner,  the  leader  of  the  United  States  Senate, — 
have  all  died.  The  questions  upon  which  the  war 
turned  are,  to  a  great  extent,  settled  ;  and  new  issues 
are  arising,  upon  some  of  which  the  political  parties 
of  the  future  will  be  based.  There  are  various  ques 
tions  which  are  important,  or  are  claimed  as  important, 
—  currency  reform,  civil  service  reform,  revenue  reform, 
woman  suffrage,  the  rights  of  labor,  and  matters  per 
taining  to  temperance,  education,  and  religion.  It  is 
impossible  to  foresee  what  shape  these  questions  may 
take  in  the  future,  which  of  them  will  prove  most  promi 
nent,  or  which  will  lead  to  lasting  reforms. 

Yet  some  things  we  may  safely  assume.  We  may 
take  for  granted  that  wealth  will  go  on  increasing ;  and 
that  the  immense  activity  and  energy  that  have  marked 
the  American  people  will  still  continue.  Much  as  has 
been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  material  progress, 
more  remains  to  be  done.  It  is  but  five  years  since 


328  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

the  Pacific  Railway  was  opened,  and  but  eight  years 
since  the  Atlantic  Cable  was  successfully  laid ;  and  it 
is  probable  that  greater  wonders  of  communication  are 
still  in  store  for  us.  The  greatest  triumphs  achieved  in 
the  United  States  have  thus  far  been  in  the  direction  of 
mechanical  ingenuity ;  and  American  literature,  science, 
and  art  have  not  yet  won  the  applause  of  the  world 
quite  so  thoroughly  as  have  American  sewing-machines 
and  agricultural  implements.  Yet  the  poetry  of  Bryant, 
Whittier,  and  Longfellow;  the  prose  of  Irving,  Hawr 
thorne,  and  Emerson ;  the  scientific  discoveries  of 
Franklin,  Morse,  and  Rumford;  the  paintings  of  Copley, 
Allston,  and  Page;  the  sculptures  of  Powers,  Story, 
and  Harriet  Hosmer, — have  obtained  great  and  per 
haps  permanent  reputation.  The  spread  of  popular 
instruction  in  America  is  very  wide  ;  higher  education  is 
constantly  on  the  increase  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  United  States  should  not  become  more  and  more 
the  chosen  home  of  literature,  science,  and  art,  as  well 
as  of  mechanical  ingenuity  and  business  skill. 

And  we  can  safely  assume  something  more  than  this. 
Habits  and  opinions  alter  with  every  generation ;  but 
the  great  principles  of  right  and  wrong  do  not  change. 
Those  who  founded  the  American  colonies  left  to  their 
descendants  many  examples  of  noble  lives  and  unselfish 
purposes ;  and  we  may  be  very  sure  that  those  who  are 
to  carry  on  the  institutions  they  founded  cannot  prosper 
without  something  of  the  same  high  motive  and  reli 
gious  self-devotion.  The  first  great  mission  of  the 
nation  was  that  of  proving  to  the  world  that  republican 
government,  on  a  large  scale,  was  practicable.  In  this 
attempt,  success  has  been  attained,  in  spite  of  the  great 


DUTY   OF   THE   AMERICAN    PEOPLE.  329 

difficulty  resulting  from  the  presence  of  slavery,  and 
the  annual  arrival  of  many  thousand  immigrants,  wholly 
untrained  in  republican  institutions.  The  civil  war  has 
proved  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  when  at 
peace  among  themselves,  are  strong  enough  for  self- 
protection  against  any  foreign  power.  The  thing  now 
essential  to  Americans  is  to  guard  against  internal  as 
well  as  external  dangers,  to  purify  their  own  govern 
ment,  educate  their  own  community,  give  to  the  world 
an  example  of  pure  lives  and  noble  purposes ;  and  so 
conduct  the  affairs  of  the  Republic,  that,  as  President 
Lincoln  said  in  his  Gettysburg  Address,  "  Government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth." 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

B*©KS   FOR  CONSULTATION. 

GENERAL   WORKS. 

Bancroft's,  Hildreth's,  and  Grahame's  "  United  States." 

EARLY   INHABITANTS. 

History.  —  Squier  and  Davis's  "Ancient  Monuments  "  (Smithsonian  Con 
tributions,  vol.  i.). 

Baldwin's  "Ancient  America." 

Foster's  "Prehistoric  Races  of  America." 

Jones's  "  Mound-Builders  of  Tennessee." 

Shaler's  "  Time  of  the  Mammoths  "  ("  American  Naturalist,"  iv.  148). 
Fiction.  —  Mathews's  "  Behemoth  ;  a  Legend  of  the  Mound-Builders." 

AMERICAN    INDIANS. 

History.  —  Schoolcraft's  "  History  and  Condition  of  the  Indian  Tribes." 

Parkman's  "  Jesuits  in  America  "   (Introduction). 

Field's  "Indian  Bibliography." 
Fiction.  —  Cooper's  "  Leatherstocking  Tales." 
Poetry.  —  Longfellow's  "  Hiawatha." 

Whittier's  "  Bridal  of  Pennacook." 

Lowell's  "  Chippewa  Legend." 

DISCOVERERS   AND   EXPLORERS. 

History.  —  Prescott's  "  Conquest  of  Mexico." 

Parkman's  "  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World  "  and  "Discovary 
of  the  Great  West." 

33' 


332  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 

T.  Irving's  "  Conquest  of  Florida." 

Anderson's  "  Discovery  of  America  by  the  Northmen." 
Voyages  and  Travels.  —  Hakluyt's  "Voyages  touching  the  Discovery  of 
America." 

Kohl's  "Discovery  of  the  East  Coast  of  America"  (Maine   Hist 

Soc.,  2d  sen,  vol.  i ). 

Biography.  —  W.  Irving's  "  Columbus  "  and  "  Companions  of  Columbus." 
Fiction.  —  Ballantyne's  "  Norsemen  of  the  West"  [Norsemen], 

Bird's  "  Calavar  "  and  "  Infidel  "  [Mexico]. 

Wallace's  "Fair  God"  [Mexico]. 

Simms's  "  Damsel  of  Darien  "  [Balboa],  "  Vasconselos"  [De  Soto], 

and  "  The  Lily  and  the  Totem." 
Poetry.  —  Whittier's  "  Norsemen." 

Longfellow's  "Skeleton  in  Armor." 

Barlow's  "  Columbiad." 

Lowell's  "Columbus." 

Rogers's  "Columbus." 

NEW   ENGLAND   COLONIAL    HISTORY. 

History.  —  Palfrey's  and  Elliott's  "  New  England." 
State  Histories :  Williamson's  "Maine." 

Belknap's  "  New  Hampshire." 

Thompson's  "Vermont." 

Barry's  "  Massachusetts." 

Arnold's  "  Rhode  Island." 

Trumbull's  "Connecticut." 

Young's  "  Chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims  "  and  "  Chronicles  of  Massachu 
setts." 

Cheever's  "Journal  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth." 
Banvard's  "  Plymouth  and  the  Pilgrims." 
Upham's  "  History  of  Witchcraft." 
Mather's  "  Magnalia." 
Biography.  —  Winthrop's  "  Life  and  Letters." 

Sparks's   "American  Biographies:"   Vane  (vol.  iv.),  Mather  (vi.), 

Phips  (vii.),  Williams  (xiv.),  Gorton  (xv. ). 
Fiction.  —  Miss  Sedgwick's  "  Hope  Leslie,"  "  New  England  Tale,"  and 

"  Redwood." 

Mrs.  Child's  "  Hobomok." 
Hawthorne's  "Scarlet  Letter,"  and  "Legends  of  the  Old  Province 

House  "  (in  "  Twice  Told  Tales  "). 
Thompson's  "  Green  Mountain  Boys," 


BOOKS    FOR   CONSULTATION.  333 

Motley's  "Merry  Mount." 

Mrs.  Cheney's  "  Peep  at  the  Pilgrims." 

Mrs.  Lee's  "  Naomi." 

Holland's  "  Bay  Path." 

"VVhittier's  "  Margaret  Smith's  Journal." 

Sears's  "Pictures  of  the  Olden  Time." 

Poetry.  —  Longfellow's  "John  Endicott,"  "Giles  Corey,"  and  "Court 
ship  of  Miles  Standish." 

Whittier's  "Changeling,"  "Wreck  of   Rivermouth,"  "Exiles,"  and 
"  Cassandra  Southwick." 

Pierpont's  "  Pilgrim  Fathers." 

Mrs.  Hemans's  "  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims." 

COLONIAL    HISTORY   OF    MIDDLE   STATES. 

History.  — State  Histories:  Brodhead's  and  O'Callaghan's  "  Nevr  York." 
Whitehead's  "  New  Jersey." 
Sypher's  "  Pennsylvania." 
Irving's  "  Knickerbocker's  New  York." 
Biography.  —  Clarkson's  and  Dixon's  "  Penn." 

Sparks's  "  American  Biographies  :  "  Cleveland's  "  Hudson  "  (vol.  x.), 

Ellis's  "  Penn  "  (xxii.). 
Fiction. —  Irving's   "Wolfert's   Roost"    and    "Rip   Van   Winkle"    (in 

"Sketch  Book"). 

Paulding's  "  Dutchman's  Fireside  "  and  "  Book  of  St.  Nicholas." 
Cooper's  "  Last  of  the  Mohicans,"  "  Water- Witch,"  and  "  Satanstoe." 
Mrs.  Grant's  "  Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady." 
Myers's  "First  of  the  Knickerbockers"  and  "  Young  Patroon." 
Bird's  "  Hawks  of  Hawk-Hollow." 

COLONIAL   HISTORY   OF   SOUTHERN    STATES. 

History.  —  Smith's    "True   Relation    of    Virginia"     (reprinted,   Boston, 

1866). 

State  Histories:  McSherry's  "  Maryland." 
Campbell's  "Virginia." 
Williamson's  "  North  Carolina." 
Ramsay's  "  South  Carolina." 
Stevens's  "Georgia." 
Jefferson's  "  Notes  on  Virginia." 
Meade's  "  Old  Churches  of  Virginia." 

Biography.  —  Sparks's  "American  Biographies:"  Smith  (ii.),  Oglethorpe 
(xii.),  Calvert  (xix.). 


334  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Fiction.  —  Thackeray's  "  Virginians." 

Cooke's  "  Virginia  Comedians." 

James's  "  Old  Dominion." 

Carruthers'  "  Cavaliers  of  Virginia"  and  "Knights  of  the  Horseshoe." 

Defoe's  "  Jaques  "  [Virginia], 

Hopkins's  "  Youth  of  the  Old  Dominion." 

Paulding's  "  Konigsmark  "  [Maryland]. 

Kennedy's  "  Rob  of  the  Bowl  "  [Maryland]. 
Poetry. —  Mrs.  Sigourney's  "  Pocahontas." 

INDIAN   WARS. 

History.  —  Drake's  "  Book  of  the  Indians  »  and  "  Indian  Wars." 

Parkman's  "  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac." 

Morgan's  "  League  of  the  Iroquois." 

Warburton's  "  Conquest  of  Canada." 
Biography.  —  Sparks's   "American   Biographies:"    Lives  of   Eliot   (v.\ 

Brainerd  (viii.),  Mason  (xiii.). 
Fiction.  —Cooper's  "  Last  of  the  Mohicans  "  [Fort  William  Henry]. 

Thackeray's  "  Virginians"  [Braddock  and  Quebec]. 

James's  "  Ticonderoga." 

Tiffany's  "  Brandon." 

Hall's  "  Twice  Taken  "  [Louisburg]. 
Poetry.  —  Longfellow's  "  Evangeline." 

Whittier's  "  Pentucket,"   "St.  John,"  "  Mary  Garvin,"  and  "  Mogg 
Megone." 

REVOLUTION. 

History.  —  Lossing's  "  Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution." 

Frothingham's  "  Siege  of  Boston  "  and  "  Rise  of  the  Republic." 

Biography.  —  Sparks's  "Washington  "  and  "Franklin." 
Irving's  "Washington." 
Franklin's  "Autobiography." 
Parton's  "Franklin,"  "Jefferson,"  and  "Burr." 
Parker's  "  Historic  Americans." 

C.  F.  Adams's  "Life  of  John  Adams,"  and  "John  Adams's  Diary." 
Goodrich's  "  Lives  of  Signers  of  the  Declaration." 
G.  W.  Greene's  "  Life  of  General  Greene." 
Wirt's  "Patrick  Henry."  Mackenzie's  "Paul  Jones." 
Sparks's  "American  Biographies:"  Lives  of  Stark  (i.),  Allen  (i.), 
Arnold  (iii.),  Pulaski  (xii.). 

Fiction.  —  Cooper's  "Spy,"  "Pilot,"   "Lionel  Lincoln,"  "  Wyandotte," 
and  "  Chain- Bearer." 


BOOKS    FOR   CONSULTATION.  335 

Motley's  "  Morton's  Hope." 
Mrs.  Child's  "  Rebels." 
Thompson's  "  Rangers." 
Miss  Sedgwick's  "  Linwoods." 
Kennedy's  "  Horse-Shoe  Robinson." 
Simms's  "  Mellichampe"  and  "  Partisan." 
Paulding's  "  Old  Continental." 
Winthrop's  "  Edwin  Brothertoft." 
Hawthorne's  "Septimius  Felton." 
Poetry.  —  Longfellow's  "  Paul  Revere's  Ride." 
Bryant's  "  Song  of  Marion's  Men." 
Whittier's  "  Rangers." 
Trumbull's  "  McFingal." 
Calvert's  "  Arnold  and  Andre." 
Moore's  "  Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  Revolution." 

FROM   THE    REVOLUTION   TO   THE   CIVIL  WAR. 

History.  — Cooper's  "  History  of  the  Navy  of  the  United  States." 

Griswold's  "  Court  of  Washington." 

Lossing's  "Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  War  of  1812." 

Wilson's  "  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power." 
^Giddings's  "  Exiles  of  Florida." 

Mayer's  "  History  of  the  Mexican  War." 

Jay's  "  Review  of  the  Mexican  War." 

Dunlop's  "  History  of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  America." 

Duyckinck's  "  American  Literature." 
Biography.  —  C.  F.  Adams's  "Life of  J.  Q.  Adams." 

Mrs.  Adams's  "  Letters." 

Par  ton's  "Jackson." 

E.  Quincy's  "  Josiah  Quincy." 

Sparks's  "American  Biographies:"  Fulton  (x.),  Fitch  (xvi.),  De- 
catur  (xxi.),  Boone  (xxiii. ). 

Ben  ton's  "  Thirty  Years'  View." 

Upham's  "Fremont." 

Frothingham's  "  Theodore  Parker." 

Redpath's  and  Webb's  "  John  Brown." 
Travels.  — "  Lewis  and  Clarke's  Expedition." 
Fiction.  —  Wirt's  "  Letters  of  a  British  Spy." 

Judd's  "  Margaret"  [New  England]. 

Paulding's  "  Westward  Ho  "  [Virginians  in  Kentucky]. 

Bird's  "  Nick  of  the  Woods  "  [Indians  and  Kentucky  settlers]. 

Kennedy's  "  Swallow  Barn  "  [Virginia]. 


336  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

Charles  Brockden  Brown's  Novels. 

Smith's  "  Jack  Downing." 

Hall's  "Legends  of  the  West." 

Mrs.   Stowe's   "Minister's   Wooing,"  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  and 

"  Dred." 

Hildreth's  "  White  Slave." 
Poetry.  —  Colton's  "  Tecumseh." 
Street's  "  Osceola." 

Lowell's  "  Biglow  Papers"  (first  series :  Mexican  War). 
Whittier's  "Angels  of  Buena  Vista"  and  "Antislavery  Poems." 

CIVIL  WAR. 

History. —  Moore's  "Rebellion  Record." 

Greeley's  "American  Conflict." 

Draper's  "American  Civil  War." 

Pollard's  "Lost  Cause"  (confederate). 

Thayer's  "  Youth's  History  of  the  Rebellion." 

Nichols's  "Story  of  the  Great  March." 

Coffin's  "  Following  the  Flag  "  and  "  My  Days  and  Nights  on  the 
Battlefield." 

Higginson's  "Army  Life  in  a  Black  Regiment." 
Biography.  —  Badeau's  "  Military  History  of  General  Grant." 

Bowman's  and  Irwin's  "Sherman  and  his  Campaigns." 

Headley's  "  Farragut  and  our  Naval  Commanders." 

Pollard's  "Jefferson  Davis." 

Nason's  "  Sumner." 

Holland's  and  Raymond's  "  Lincoln." 

Chesney's  "Military  Biographies"  (Grant,  Lee,  Farragut). 

Higginson's  "  Harvard  Memorial  Biographies"  (Memoirs  of  Harvard 

Students  and  Graduates  in  the  War). 
Fief  ion.  — Mrs.  Child's  "Romance  of  the  Republic." 

Trowbridge's  "  Cudjo's   Cave,"  "Three  Scouts,"  and   "Drummer 
Boy." 

De  Forest's  "  Miss  Ravenel's  Conversion." 

Coffin's  "  Winning  his  Way." 

Mrs.  Austin's  "  Dora  Darling." 
Poetry.  —  Moore's  "  Lyrics  of  Loyalty  "  and  "  Rebel  Rhymes." 

Simms's  "  War  Poetry  of  the  South." 

Whittier's  "  In  War  Time." 

Lowell's  "  Biglow  Papers"  (second  series)  and  "  Harvard  Commem 
oration  Ode." 

Mrs.  Howe's  "  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic." 


LIST   OF    PRESIDENTS    AND   VICE-PRESIDENTS.        337 


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YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 


III. 


LIST   OF   STATES   AND   TERRITORIES. 


NO. 

STATES. 

•Moissiwav 
1  do  Hiva 

NO. 

STATES. 

DATE  OF 
ADMISSION.  [| 

2 

3 
4 

I 

7 
8 

9 
10 
ii 

12 
13 
14 

:* 

17 

18 
19 

New  Hampshire  

1 

C/5 

1 

t>. 

•c 

o 
| 

1 

£ 
<u 

J3 
H 

1791 

I792J 
1796 
1802 
1812 
1816; 

20 
21 
22 

23 
24 

ll 

27 
28 
29 
3° 
31 
32 

33 

1 

Si 

l8l7 

1818 
1819 
1820 
1821 
1836 
1837 
!845 
1845 
1846 
1848 
1850 
1858 
1859 
1861 
1863 
1864 
1867 

Massachusetts  

Illinois    ,   .    . 

Rhode  Island  

Alabama.       .        . 

Connecticut. 

Maine  .       .       . 

New  York 

Missouri 

Pennsylvania 

Michigan 

Florida  

Maryland  

Virginia   

Iowa  

North  Carolina  

Wisconsin   

South  Carolina    

California.                . 

Georgia     .... 

Minnesota 

Vermont.                . 

Oregon            . 

Kentucky        . 

Kansas 

Tennessee  .   . 

West  Virginia 

Ohio 

N  evada 

Louisiana  

NO. 

TERRITORIES. 

h  2 

O*N 

B§ 

<  o 

°§ 

NO. 

TERRITORIES. 

fc.  2 

°~f» 

eS 

33 

o 

I 

2 

3 
4 

| 

New  Mexico      .  .        . 

1850 
1850 

1853 

1861 
1861 
1863 

7 
8 

9 
10 
ii 

12 

Idaho 

1863 
1864 
1868 

Utah 

Washington 

Dakota 

Dist   Columbia 

Colorado  

Indian  Territory.  .  ..  j    Not  yet 
Alaska  )  organized. 

AREA   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


339 


IV. 


AREA   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

SQ.  MILHS. 

Original  limits  of  the  Thirteen  States 820,680 

Louisiana,  purchased  of  France  in  1803,  for  $15,000,000  .         .  899,579 

Florida,  purchased  of  Spain  in  1819,  for  $5,000,000          .         .  66,900 

Territory  confirmed  by  the  Oregon  Treaty  in  1842  and  1846     .  308,052 

Texas  annexed  in  1846  (Texas  debt  $7,500,000)       .        .        .  318,000 

New  Mexico  and  California  in  1847  (cost  of  the  war  $15, 000,000)  522,955 

" Gadsden  Purchase"  of  Mexico  in  1853,  for  $10,000,000       .  45,535 

Alaska,  purchased  of  Russia  in  1867,  for  $7,200,000        .        .  577,390 


[See  Frontispiece.] 


340  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


V. 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE,  ADOPTED 
BY  CONGRESS  JULY  4,  1776. 

A     DECLARATION     BY    THE     REPRESENTATIVES     OF     THE     UNITED 
STATES   OF  AMERICA,    IN    CONGRESS   ASSEMBLED. 

WHEN,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary  for 
one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected 
them  with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the  powers  of  the  earth 
the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of 
nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  man 
kind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them 
to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created 
equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  in 
alienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness  ;  that,  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  insti 
tuted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed  ;  that,  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes 
destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its  foundation 
on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to 
them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness. 
Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  governments  long  established 
should  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient  causes  ;  and,  accord 
ingly,  all  experience  hath  shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed 
to  suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by 
abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  But  when  a 
long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  invariably  the  same 
object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute  despotism, 
it  is  their  right,  it  is  their  duty,  to  throw  off  such  a  government, 
and  to  provide  new  guards  for  their  future  security.  Such  has 
been  the  patient  sufferance  of  these  Colonies  ;  and  such  is  now  the 


DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  341 

necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter  their  former  systems  of 
government.  The  history  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is 
a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having  in  direct 
object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  States. 
To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world  :  — 

He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  wholesome,  and 
necessary  for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of  immediate  and 
pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operations,  till  his 
assent  should  be  obtained  ;  and,  when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly 
neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation  of 
large  districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the 
right  of  representation  in  the  legislature ;  a  right  inestimable  to 
them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual,  un 
comfortable,  and  distant  from  the  repository  of  their  public  records, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compliance  with  his 
measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly  for  opposing, 
with  manly  firmness,  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  people. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolutions,  to  cause 
others  to  be  elected  ;  whereby  the  legislative  powers,  incapable  of 
annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at  large,  for  their  exercise  ; 
the  State  remaining,  in  the  mean  time,  exposed  to  all  the  dangers 
of  invasions  from  without,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States ; 
for  that  purpose,  obstructing  the  laws  for  the  naturalization  of 
foreigners  ;  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migration 
hither,  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new  appropriations  of  lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice  by  refusing  his 
assent  to  laws  for  establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for  the  tenure 
of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent  hither 
swarms  of  officers,  to  harass  our  people,  and  eat  out  their  sub 
stance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times  of  peace,  standing  armies,  with 
out  the  consent  of  our  legislature. 


342  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of,  and 
superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction 
foreign  to  our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws ; 
giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation  :  — 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us  ; 

For  protecting  them,  by  mock  trial,  from  punishment  for  any 
murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these 
States  ; 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world ; 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent ; 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits  of  trial  by  jury ; 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended 
offences  ; 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a  neighboring 
province,  establishing  therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and  enlar 
ging  its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and  fit 
instrument  for  introducing  the  same  absolute  rule  into  these 
Colonies  : 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable 
laws,  and  altering,  fundamentally,  the  powers  of  our  governments  ; 

For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring  themselves 
invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his 
protection,  and  waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burned  our 
towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  mercena 
ries  to  complete  the  works  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny, 
already  begun  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy  scarcely 
paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the 
head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken  captive  on  the 
high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to  become  the 
executioners  of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by 
their  hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and  has  en 
deavored  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers,  the  merciless 


DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE.  343 

Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished 
destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we  have  petitioned  for 
redress  in  the  most  humble  terms ;  our  repeated  petitions  have 
been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince  whose  character 
is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit  to 
be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attentions  to  our  British  brethren. 
We  have  warned  them,  from  time  to  time,  of  attempts  by  their 
legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  us.  We 
have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration  and 
settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to  their  native  justice  and 
magnanimity,  and  we  have  conjured  them,  by  the  ties  of  our 
common  kindred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which  would  in 
evitably  interrupt  our  connections  and  correspondence.  They, 
too,  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity. 
We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity,  which  denounces 
our  separation,  and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind, 
enemies  in  war ;  in  peace,  friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  UNITED  STATES  OF 
AMERICA,  in  general  congress  assembled,  appealing  to  the  Su 
preme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions,  do, 
in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  good  people  of  these 
Colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare,  That  these  United  Colo 
nies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  Free  and  independent  States ; 
that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown, 
and  that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State  of 
Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved  ;  and  that,  as 
Free  and  Independent  States,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  con 
clude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  do  all 
other  acts  and  things  which  Independent  States  may  of  right  do. 
And  for  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on 
the  protection  of  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  we  mutually  pledge  to 
each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 

JOHN  HANCOCK. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  — Josiah  Bartlett,  William  Whipple,  Matthew 
Thornton. 


344  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

MASSACHUSETTS  BAY.  —  Samuel  Adams,  John  Adams,  Robert 
Treat  Paine,  Elbridge  Gerry. 

RHODE  ISLAND,  ETC.  —  Stephen  Hopkins,  William  Ellery. 

CONNECTICUT.  —  Roger  Sherman,  Samuel  Huntington,  William 
Williams,  Oliver  Wolcott 

NEW  YORK.  —  William  Floyd,  Philip  Livingston,  Francis 
Lewis,  Lewis  Morris. 

NEW  JERSEY.  —  Richard  Stockton,  John  Witherspoon,  Francis 
Hopkinson,  John  Hart,  Abraham  Clark. 

PENNSYLVANIA.  —  Robert  Morris,  Benjamin  Rush,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  John  Morton,  George  Clymer,  James  Smith,  George 
Taylor,  James  Wilson,  George  Ross. 

DELAWARE,  —  Caesar  Rodney,  George  Read,  Thomas  M'Kean. 

MARYLAND. — Samuel  Chase,  William  Paca,  Thomas  Stone, 
Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton. 

VIRGINIA. — George  Wythe,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Benjamin  Harrison,  Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  Francis  Light- 
foot  Lee,  Carter  Braxton. 

NORTH  CAROLINA.  —  William  Hooper,  Joseph  Hewes,  John 
Penn. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA.  —  Edward  Rutledge,  Thomas  Hayward,  Jr., 
Thomas  Lynch,  Jr.,  Arthur  Middleton. 

GEORGIA.  —  Button  Gwinnett,  Lyman  Hall,  George  Walton. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  345 

VI. 
CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

WE,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  pro 
vide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and 
secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do 
ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of 
America. 

ARTICLE   I. 

SECTION  i. — All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be 
vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of 
a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

SECT.  2.  — The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of 
members  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several 
States,  and  the  electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications 
requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State 
legislature. 

No  person  shall  be  a  representative  who  shall  not  have  attained 
to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhab 
itant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  accord 
ing  to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by 
adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those  bound 
to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed, 
three-fifths  of  all  other  persons.  The  actual  enumeration  shall  be 
made  within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term  of  ten  years, 
in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The  number  of  rep 
resentatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thousand ;  but 


346  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

each  State  shall  have  at  least  one  representative  ;  and,  until  such 
enumeration  shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be 
entitled  to  choose  three,  Massachusetts,  eight,  Rhode  Island  and 
Providence  Plantations  one,  Connecticut,  five,  New  York,  six,  New 
Jersey,  four,  Pennsylvania, 'eight,  Delaware,  one,  Maryland,  six, 
Virginia,  ten,  North  Carolina,  five,  South  Carolina,  five,  and 
Georgia,  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from  any  State, 
the  executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill 
such  vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  speaker  and 
other  officers  ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment 

SECT.  3.  —  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed 
of  two  senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  legislature  thereof, 
for  six  years  ;  and  each  senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence  of 
the  first  election,  they  shall  be  divided,  as  equally  as  may  be,  into 
three  classes.  The  seats  of  the  senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be 
vacated  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year,  of  the  second  class, 
at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year,  and  of  the  third  class,  at  the 
expiration  of  the  sixth  year,  so  that  one-third  may  be  chosen 
every  second  year ;  and  if  vacancies  happen,  by  resignation  or 
otherwise,  during  the  recess  of  the  legislature  of  any  State,  the 
executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  appointments  until  the 
next  meeting  of  the  legislature,  which  shall  then  fill  such 
vacancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that 
State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  president  of 
the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also  a  presi 
dent  pro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when  he 
shall  exercise  the  office  as  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeachments. 
When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation. 
When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  chief  justice 


CONSTITUTION    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.  347 

shall  preside ;  and  no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  con 
currence  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

Judgment,  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  not  extend  further 
than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and 
enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  United  States; 
but  the  party  convicted  shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  and  subject  to 
indictment,  trial,  judgment,  and  punishment,  according  to  law. 

SECT.  4.  — The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for 
senators  and  representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by 
the  legislature  thereof ;  but  the  Congress  may,  at  any  time,  by 
law,  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of 
choosing  senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year ;  and 
such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless 
they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

SECT.  5.  —  Each  house  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns, 
and  qualifications  of  its  own  members ;  and  a  majority  of  each 
shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business  ;  but  a  smaller  number 
may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel 
the  attendance  of  absent  members,  in  such  manner  and  under  such 
penalties  as  each  house  may  provide. 

Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish 
its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and,  with  the  concurrence  of 
two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 

Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  from 
time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as  may  in 
their  judgment  require  secrecy;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the 
members  of  either  house,  on  any  question,  shall,  at  the  desire  of 
one-fifth  of  those  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Neither  house,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  without, 
the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to 
any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SECT.  6.  — The  senators  and  representatives  shall  receive  a  com 
pensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and  paid  out 
of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall,  in  all  cases 
except  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged 
from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of  their  respec 
tive  houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  frqm  the  same  ;  and,  for 


348  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

any  speech  or  debate  in  either  house,  they  shall  not  be  questioned 
in  any  other  place. 

No  senator  or  representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which 
he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the  emolu 
ments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased,  during  such  time  ;  and 
no  person  holding  any  office  under  the  United  States  shall  be  a 
member  of  either  house  during  his  continuance  in  office. 

SECT.  7.  —  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur 
with  amendments,  as  on  other  bills. 

Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a  law,  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  if  he  approve  he  shall  sign  it, 
but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections,  to  that  house  in 
which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at 
large  on  their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If,  after  such 
reconsideration,  two-thirds  of  that  house  shall  agree  to  pass  the 
bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to  the  other 
house,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and,  if  approved 
by  two-thirds  of  that  house,  it  shall  become  a  law.  But,  in  all 
such  cases,  the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas 
and  nays ;  and  the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against  the 
bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each  house  respectively. 
If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  days 
(Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the 
same  shall  be  a  law  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless 
the  Congress  by  their  adjournment  prevent  its  return,  in  which 
case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  to  which  the  concurrence  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except 
on  a  question  of  adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  ;  and,  before  the  same  shall  take  effect,  shall 
be  approved  by  him,  or,  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  re- 
passed  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
according  to  the  rules  and  limitations  prescribed  in  the  case  of  a 
bill. 

SECT.  8.  —  The  Congress  shall  have  power  :  — 


CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  349 

To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,  to  pay 
the  debts,  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare, 
of  the  United  States ;  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall 
be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States : 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States  : 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the 
several  States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes  : 

To  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws 
on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States : 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin, 
and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures  : 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities 
and  current  coin  of  the  United  States  : 

To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads  : 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  securing 
for  limited  times,  to  authors  and  inventors,  the  exclusive  right  to 
their  respective  writings  and  discoveries. 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court : 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the 
high  seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of  nations  : 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make 
rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water  : 

To  raise  and  support  armies  ;  but  no  appropriation  of  money 
to  that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years  : 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy  : 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces : 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of 
the  Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions : 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia, 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively, 
the  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of  training  the 
militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress  : 

To  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over 
such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession 
of  particular  States,  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the 
seat  of  government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like 


35°  YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED   STATES. 

authority  over  all  places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  legisla 
ture  of  the  State  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of 
forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dockyards,  and  other  needful  build 
ings  :  —  And, 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carry 
ing  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers 
vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  or  in  any  department  or  officer  thereof. 

SECT.  9.  — The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons,  as  any 
of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be 
prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eight ;  but  a  tax,  or  duty,  may  be  imposed  on  such 
importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety 
may  require  it. 

No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be  passed. 

No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  pro 
portion  to  the  census,  or  enumeration,  hereinbefore  directed  to  be 
taken. 

No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  State. 
No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or 
revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another ;  nor  shall 
vessels  bound  to  or  from  one  State  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or 
pay  duties,  in  another. 

No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but  in  conse 
quence  of  appropriations  made  by  law  ;  and  a  regular  statement 
and  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money 
shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States ;  and 
no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  them  shall, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present, 
emolument,  office,  or  title  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  king, 
prince,  or  foreign  state. 

SECT.  10.  —  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or 
confederation  ;  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  ;  coin  money  ; 
emit  bills  of  credit ;  make  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a 
tender  in  payment  of  debts ;  pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  fosl 


CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  351 

facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts  ;  or  grant 
any  title  of  nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any 
imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  abso 
lutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws  ;  and  the  net 
produce  of  all  duties  and  imposts  laid  by  any  State  on  imports  or 
exports  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  all  such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and  con 
trol  of  the  Congress.  No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,  lay  any  duty  of  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war  in 
time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or  compact  with  another 
State  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage  in  war,  unless  actually 
invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE   II. 

SECTION  I.  — The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President 
of  the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  office  during 
the  term  of  four  years,  and  together  with  the  Vice-President, 
chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected  as  follows  :  — 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors  equal  to  the  whole 
number  of  senators  and  representatives  to  which  the  State  may 
be  entitled  in  the  Congress  ;  but  no  senator  or  representative,  or 
person  holding  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States, 
shall  be  appointed  an  elector. 

The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  two  persons,  of  whom  one,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  in 
habitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make 
a  list  of  all  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for 
each  ;  which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed 
to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to 
the  president  of  the  Senate.  The  president  of  the  Senate  shall, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
open  all  the  certificates  ;  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted.  The 
person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  shall  be  the  President, 
if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors 
appointed ;  and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such  majority, 
and  have  an  equal  number  of  votes,  then  the  House  of  Represen- 


3$2  YOUNG    FOLKS5    UNITED    STATES. 

tatives  shall  immediately  choose,  by  ballot,  one  of  them  for  Presi 
dent  ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then,  from  the  five 
highest  on  the  list,  the  said  house  shall,  in  like  manner,  choose 
the  President.  But,  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be 
taken  by  States  ;  the  representation  from  each  State  having  one 
vote ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or 
members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States ;  and  a  majority  of  all  the 
States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  In  every  case,  after  the 
choice  of  the  President,  the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of 
votes  of  the  electors  shall  be  the  Vice-President.  But,  if  there 
should  remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall 
choose  from  them,  by  ballot,  the  Vice-President. 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  the  electors, 
and  the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  votes ;  which  day  shall 
be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

No  person  except  a  natural  born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  per 
son  be  eligible  to  that  office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age 
of  thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the 
United  States. 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties 
of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice-President ; 
and  the  Congress  may,  by  law,  provide  for  the  case  of  removal, 
death,  resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice- 
President,  declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President ;  and 
such  officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  disability  be  removed, 
or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services  a 
compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished 
during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected  ;  and  he 
shall  not  receive  within  that  period  any  other  emolument  from  the 
United  States  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall  take  the 
following  oath  or  affirmation  :  — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute 
the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will,  to  the  best 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.  353 

of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States." 

SECT.  2.  —  The  President  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the 
several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United 
States ;  he  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
officer  in  each  of  the  executive  departments,  upon  any  subject 
relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  and  he  shall  have 
power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  senators 
present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and,  by  and  with  the  ad 
vice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint,  ambassadors,  other 
public  ministers,  and  consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
all  other  officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  are 
not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established 
by  law :  but  the  Congress  may,  by  law,  vest  the  appointment  of 
such  inferior  officers  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President  alone, 
in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that  may 
happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  commissions, 
which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

SECT.  3.  —  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the  Congress  in 
formation  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their 
consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  ex 
pedient  ;  he  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  both  houses, 
or  either  of  them,  and,  in  case  of  disagreement  between  them 
with  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to 
such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper ;  he  shall  receive  ambassadors 
and  other  public  ministers ;  he  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be 
faithfully  executed  ;  and  shall  commission  all  the  officers  of  the 
United  States. 

SECT.  4.  — The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all  civil  officers  of 
the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  impeachment 
for  and  conviction  of  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors. 


354  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

ARTICLE  III. 

SECTION  i.  — The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The 
judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall  hold  their 
offices  during  good  behavior ;  and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive 
for  their  services  a  compensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished 
during  their  continuance  in  office. 

SECT.  2.  —  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in  law  and 
equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their 
authority ;  to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  minis 
ters  and  consuls ;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdic 
tion  ;  to  controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party ; 
to  controversies  between  two  or  more  States,  between  a  State 
and  citizens  of  another  State,  between  citizens  of  different 
States,  between  citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  lands  under 
grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  citizens 
thereof,  and  foreign  States,  citizens,  or  subjects. 

In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  a  party,  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  cases 
before  mentioned,  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  juris 
diction  both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  exceptions,  and  under 
such  regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall 
be  by  jury ;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the 
said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed  ;  but,  when  not  committed 
within  any  State,  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places  as  the 
Congress  may  by  law  have  directed. 

SECT.  3.  —  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  consist  only 
in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving 
them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason 
unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or 
on  confession  in  open  court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  punishment  of 
treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  \vork  corruption  of 
blood  or  forfeiture,  except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES.  355 

ARTICLE    IV. 

SECTION  I.  —  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to 
the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  every  other 
'State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general  laws  prescribe  the 
manner  in  which  such  acts,  records,  and  proceedings  shall  be 
proved,  and  the  effect  thereof. 

SECT.  2.  —  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all 
privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony,  or  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State, 
shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  State  from 
which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having 
jurisdiction  of  the  crime. 

No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or 
regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but 
shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service 
or  labor  may  be  due. 

SECT.  3.  —  New  States  maybe  admitted  by  the  Congress  into 
this  Union  ;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State  ;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by 
the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States,  without  the 
consent  of  the  legislature,  of  the  States  concerned,  as  well  as  of 
the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other 
property  belonging  to  the  United  States  ;  and  nothing  in  this  Con 
stitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

SECT.  4. — The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in 
this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect  each 
of  them  against  invasion ;  and  on  application  of  the  legislature,  or 
of  the  executive  (when  the  legislature  cannot  be  convened),  against 
domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE    V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of  both  houses  shall  deem 


356  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

it  necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on 
the  application  of  the  legislatures  of  two-thirds  of  the  several 
States,  shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments,  which, 
in  either  case,  shall  be  valid,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of 
this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths 
of  the  several  States,  or  by  conventions  in  three-fourths  thereof, 
as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by 
the  Congress  ;  Provided,  that  no  amendment,  which  may  be  made 
prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  shall  in 
any  manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section 
of  the  first  article  ;  and  that  no  State,  without  its  consent,  shall  be 
deprived  of  its  equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE    VI. 

All  debts  contracted,  and  engagements  entered  into,  before  the 
adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United 
States  under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the  Confederation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall 
be  made  in  pursuance  thereof  ;  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall 
be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land  ;  and  the  judges  in  every  State  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  any  thing  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any  State 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  senators  and  representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the 
members  of  the  several  State  legislatures,  and  all  executive  and 
judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several 
States,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  this  Con 
stitution  ;  but  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualifi 
cation  to  any  office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE   VII. 

The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  suffi 
cient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States 
so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  in  Convention  by  the  imanimous  consent  of  the  States  present, 
the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eight-seven,  and  of  the  Independence 


CONSTITUTION    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES.  357 

of  the  United  States  of  America  the  twelfth.     In  witness  whereof, 
we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  President, 
and  Deptity  from  Virginia. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  —  John  Langdon,  Nicholas  Oilman. 

MASSACHUSETTS.  —  Nathaniel  Gorham,  Rufus  King. 

CONNECTICUT.  —  William  Samuel  Johnson,  Roger  Sherman. 

NEW  YORK.  —  Alexander  Hamilton. 

NEW  JERSEY.  —  William  Livingston,  David  Brearly,  William 
Patterson,  Jonathan  Dayton.  • 

PENNSYLVANIA.  —  Benjamin  Franklin,  Thomas  Mifflin,  Robert 
Morris,  George  Clymer,  Thomas  Fitzsimons,  Jared  Ingersoll, 
James  Wilson,  Gouverneur  Morris. 

DELAWARE.  —  George  Read,  Gunning  Bedford,  Jr.,  John  Dick 
inson,  Richard  Bassett,  Jacob  Broom. 

MARYLAND. — James  McHenry,  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer, 
Daniel  Carroll. 

VIRGINIA. — John  Blair,  James  Madison,  Jr. 

NORTH  CAROLINA.  —  William  Blount,  Richard  Dobbs  Spaight, 
Hugh  Williamson. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA.  —  John  Rutledge,  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinck- 
ney,  Charles  Pinckney,  Pierce  Butler. 

GEORGIA.  —  William  Few,  Abraham  Baldwin. 
Attest: 

WILLIAM  JACKSON,  Secretary. 


AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE   I. 

CONGRESS  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof  ;  or  abridging  the 
freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press  ;  or  the  right  of  the  people 
peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  government  for  a 
redress  of  grievances. 


358  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


ARTICLE  II. 

A  well  regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free 
state,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be 
infringed. 

ARTICLE    III. 

No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner ;  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures, 
shall  not  be  violated  ;  and  no  warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  prob 
able  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly 
describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  person  or  things  to  be 
seized. 

ARTICLE    V. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise 
infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand 
jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the 
militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger  ; 
nor  shall  any  person  be  subject,  for  the  same  offence,  to  be  twice 
put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled,  in  any 
criminal  case,  to  be  a  witness  against  himself  j  nor  be  deprived  of 
life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  shall 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use  without  just  compen 
sation. 

ARTICLE   VI. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and 
district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  dis 
trict  shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law ;  and  to  be 
informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  ;  to  be  con 
fronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him ;  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor  ;  and  to  have  the 
assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defence. 


AMENDMENTS   TO   THE   CONSTITUTION.  359 


ARTICLE  VII. 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall 
exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved  ; 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any 
court  of  the  United  States  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  com 
mon  law. 

ARTICLE    VIII. 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  im 
posed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

ARTICLE    IX. 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution  of  certain  rights,  shall  not 
be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE    X. 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu 
tion,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ARTICLE    XI. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed 
to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of  another  State,  or 
by  citizens  or  subjects  of  any  foreign  State. 

ARTICLE    XII. 

The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall 
not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves ;  they 
shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and 
in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President ;  and  they 
shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and 
of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of 
votes  for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit 
sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed 
to  the  president  of  the  Senate ;  the  president  of  the  Senate  shall, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open 


360  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted  :  the  per 
son  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President  shall  be  the 
President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of 
electors  appointed  ;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then 
from  the  persons  having  the  highest  numbers,  not  exceeding  three 
on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives  shall  choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  But,  in 
choosing  the  president,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the 
representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote  ;  a  quorum  for 
this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two- 
thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be 
necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
not  choose  a  President,  whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve 
upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then 
the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the  President. 

The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice-Presi 
dent,  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ;  and  if  no  person 
have  a  majority,  then  from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list, 
the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice-President :  a  quorum  for  the 
purpose  shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  sena 
tors,  and  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
choice. 

But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President, 
shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE    XIII. 

SECTION  I.  — Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except 
as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  sub 
ject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

SECT.  2.  —  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  Article  by 
appropriate  legislation. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

SECTION  I. — All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the 


AMENDMENTS    TO   THE    CONSTITUTION.  361 

United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State 
shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges 
or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  nor  shall  any  State 
deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  clue  pro 
cess  of  law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the 
equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

SECT.  2.  —  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States,  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  choice  of 
electors  for  President  and  Yice-President  of  the  United  States, 
representatives  in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial  officers  of 
a  State,  or  the  members  of  the  legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to 
any  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State  being  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged, 
except  for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of 
representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which 
the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number 
of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

SECT.  3.  —  No  person  shall  be  a  senator,  or  representative  in 
Congress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice-President,  or  hold  any 
office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath  as  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any 
State  legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any 
State,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have 
engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid 
or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof  ;  but  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  each  house,  remove  such  disability. 

SECT.  4.  — The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pen 
sions,  and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or 
rebellion,  shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States, 
nor  any  State,  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred 
in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or 
any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave  ;  but  all  such 
debts,  obligations,  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

SECT.  5. — The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  by 
appropriate  legislation  the  provisions  of  this  Article. 


362  YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 

ARTICE  XV. 

SECTION  i.  —  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States,  or  by  any 
State,  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  ser 
vitude. 

SECT.  2. — The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
Article  by  appropriate  legislation. 


INDEX. 


A. 


ACADIA,   152. 

Acton,  Mass.,  180. 

Adams,  John,  President,  176,  106,  197, 

217,  221,  231,  238,  239,  260,  261,  262. 
Adams,  J.  Q.,  President,  259,  268. 
Adams,  Samuel,  172,  179,  182,221. 
Alabama,  234,  255,  257,  289. 
"Alabama,"  The,  312. 
Alaska,  325. 

Albany,  N.'Y..  90,  95,  151,  241. 
"  Albemarle,     The,  314. 
Alleghany  River,  The,  150,  152. 
Alexandria,  Va.,  296. 
Algonquins,  The,  18. 
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  233. 
Allen,  Ethan,  68,  229. 
Allston,  W.,  328. 
Alton,    111.,  268. 
Americus  Vespucius,  37. 
Anderson,  Major  Robert,  290. 
Andre,  Major  John,  210. 
Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  83. 
Animals,  Extinct,  2. 
Annapolis,  Md.,  173,  295. 
Antietam,  Md.,  Battle  of,  299 
Antislavery  Societies,  265,  268. 
Appomattox,  Va.,    Lee's  Surrender  at, 

318. 

Aquidneck,  70. 
Arizona,  284. 

Arlington  Heights,  Va.,  296. 
"Ark,"  The,  ici. 
Arkansas,  266,  291. 
Arnold,  Gen.  Benedict,  25,  26,  209,  210, 

21 i. 

Astor,  J.  J.,  247,  253. 
Astoria,  247. 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  Capture  of,  315. 
Atlantic  Cable,  The,  328. 
Atlantic  Ocean,  13,  31,  32,  33,  35,  52. 
Attucks,  Crispus,  169. 


B. 

BACON,  NATHANTEL,  139. 

Bainbridge,  Captain,  237. 

Bailey,  Colonel,  311. 

Balboa,  43. 

Ball's  Bluff,  Va.,  297. 

Baltimore,  Md.,  273,  294,  295. 

Baltimore,  George,  Lord,  121. 

Baltimore,  Cecil,  Lord,  121,  122. 

Banks,  Gen.  N.  P.,  298,  310. 

Barrc,  Colonel,  162,  163. 

55aton  Rouge,  La.,  293. 

Beauregard,  General,  291,  302. 

Bennington,  Vt.,  205. 

Berkeley,  Governor,  139. 

Berkeley,  Lord,  99. 

Big  Bethel,  Va.,  296. 

"  Blessing  of  the  Bay,"  The,  84. 

Block,  Adrian,  71,  91. 

Block  Island,  71,  91. 

"  Bonhomme  Richard,"  The,  207,  208. 

Boone,  Daniel,  230. 

Booth,  Wilkes,  322. 

Border  Ruffians,  283,  286. 

Boston,  Mass.,  62,  83,  86,  87,  164,  166, 
167,  169,  171,  172,  174,  175,  178,  179, 
181,  182,  183,  184,  189,  191,  192,  200, 
202,  227,  259. 

Boston  Massacre,  The,  169. 

"  Boston  Newsletter,"  The,  86. 

Boston  Port  Bill,  173,  174,  175. 

"  Bounty-jumpers,"  306. 

Bradclock,  General,  153,  154,  157. 

Bradford,  Governor,  133. 

Brainerd,  David,  136. 

Breed's  Hill,  183,  184. 

Brewster,  Elder,  60. 

Brown,  Capt.  John,  283,  286,  288. 

Bryant,  W.  C.,  328. 

Buchanan,  James,  President,  285,  286. 

Buell,  Gen.  P.  C.    302. 

Buena  V,str.  Battle  of,  275,  276. 

363 


364 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


Bull  Run.  Battles  of,  296,  299. 

Bunker    Hill,  Battle  of,  178,   183,  188, 

189,  192,  194,  206. 
Burgoyne,  General,  205,  206. 
Burke,  Edmund,  174. 
Burns,  Anthony,  281. 
Burnside,  Gen.  A.  E.,  300,  302. 
Burr,  Aaron,  242,  243. 
Butler,  Gen.  B.  F.,  295,  303,  304. 
Buttrick,  Major,  180. 

C. 

CABOT,  JOHN,  40,  41,  51. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  38,  40,  41,  42,  51. 

Calhoun,  J.  C.,  263,  272. 

California,  277,  278,  280,  281. 

Calvert,  Leonard,  121. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  37,  86,  87,  136,  174, 

184,  189,  191,  200. 

Canada,  18,  45,  50,  51,  52,  66,  95,  136, 
^  139,  146,  147,  148. 
Canonicus,  69. 
Cape  Ann,  67,  115. 
Cape  Charles,  113. 
Cape  Cod,  49.  61,  71,  89,  92. 
Cape  Henry,  113. 
Carolinas,  The,  124,  127. 
Carteret,  Sir  George,  99. 
Carver,  John,  59. 
Casey,  General,  298. 
Castle  William,  169,  191. 
Cedar  Creek,  Va.,  Battle  of,  312. 
Cedar  Mountain,  Va.,  Battle  of,  299. 
Census  of  United  States,  231,  234.252, 

257,  266,  269,  282.  292,  326. 
Central  America.  7. 
Cerro  Gordo,  276. 
Champlain,  Lake,  205,  209. 
Chapultepec,  276. 
Charles  River,  115,  179. 
Charleston,  S.C.,  126,  173,  191,  202,  205, 

207,  209,  212,  290,  291,  310,  316. 
Charlestown,  Mass..  62,  178,  179,  184. 
Charlestown,  Va.,  288. 
Charters,  52,  82,  84,  101,  no,  130,  160. 
Chase,  S.  P.,  327. 

Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  Battle  of,  309. 
Chesapeake  Bay,  112,  121. 
"  Chesapeake,"  The,  236,  249,  250, 
Chickasaw,  The,  263. 
Chihuahua.  277. 
Chilton,  Mary,  58. 
Choctaws,  The,  263. 
Christiana,  Del.,  107,  108. 
Church,  Captain,  138. 
Churubusco,  276. 
Civil  War,  The,  293. 
Clark,  Capt.  William,  245,  246. 
Clayborne,  Capt.  William,  121,  122. 
Clay,  Henry,  280. 


"Clermont,"  The,  241,  242. 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  260. 
Clinton,  General,  202. 
Coddington,  William,  70. 
Coins,  early,  in  New  England,  85. 
Colorado,  2. 

Colored  Troops,  305,  311,  317,  319. 
Columbus,  Christopher,  31,  40. 
Columbia  River,  246,  247,  253,  273. 
Columbia,  District  of,  280. 
"Columbia,"  The,  246. 
"Common  Sense,"  195. 
Compromise  Measures,  280. 
Concord,  Mass.,  179,  180,  181,  198. 
Confederacy,  The,  297. 
Confederation,  The,  214,  215. 
Congress,  Continental,    164,    176,    189, 

194,  200. 
Connecticut,  66,  71,  72,  73,  83,  84,  87,  96, 

t37>  14.8,  iS9>  '65,  183,  196,  268. 
Connecticut  River,  92. 
Constitution,  Federal,  The,  2 15, 216, 254, 

?56. 

"Constitution,"  The,  249. 
Continental  Army,  199. 
Cook,  Captain,  155. 
Copley,  J.  S-,  328. 
Cotton  Gin,  The,  16. 
Cotton,  Rev.  John,  136. 
Crown  Point,  154. 
Cuba,  37,  47. 
Cumberland,  Md.,  252. 
dishing,  Lieutenant,  314. 
Gushing,  Mrs.,  164. 
Cuttyhunk,  Mass.,  Settlement  at,  51. 

D. 

DAHLGREN,  ADMIRAL,  315. 

Dare,  Virginia,  52. 

Dark  and  Bloody  Ground,  The,  230. 

"Daughters  of  Liberty,"  173. 

Davis,  Capt.  Isaac,  180. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  290,  317,  318. 

Debt,  National,  318,  326. 

Decatur,  Lieutenant,  237,  238. 

Declaration  of  Rights,  164. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  194,  197, 

199,  202,  213,  216,  228,  232,  235,  261. 
Deerfield,  Mass.,  146,  147. 
De  Kalb,  General,  204. 
Delaware,  93,  105,  106,  108,  159. 
De  la  Ware,  Lord,  106,  117. 
Delaware  River,  108,  203,  241. 
Democratic  Party,  221,   235,   267,   273, 

282,  285. 

Detroit,  Mich.,  157,  158,  249. 
Dighton  Rock,  26. 
Doniphan,  Colonel,  277. 


INDEX. 


36S 


Dorchester,  Mass.,  62. 

Dorchester  Heights,  183,  192. 

Dorr  War,  The.  270. 

"  Dove,"  The,  121. 

Dover,  N.H.,  66. 

Drecl  Scott  Decision,  285. 

Druilletes,  Father,  136. 

Dudingston,  Lieutenant,  169. 

Dupont,  Admiral,  310. 

Duston,  Thomas,  144. 

Dutch  Times  in  New  York,  88. 


E. 

EARLY,  GEN.  JUBAL,  312. 

East  Cambridge,  Mass.,  179. 

Eliot,  Rev.  John,  136. 

Eiizabethtown,  N.J.,  99. 

El  Molino  del  Rey,  276. 

Ellsworth,  Colonel,  296. 

Emancipation  Proclamations,  305,  306. 

Embargo,  The,  236. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  328. 

Endicott,  John,  61,  74. 

Ericsson,  Captain,  301. 

Erie  Canal,  The,  260. 

"  Essex,"  The,  250. 

Everett,  Edward,  265. 

Everglades,  The,  263,  264. 

F. 

FAIRBANKS,  JONAS,  78. 

Fair  Oaks,  Battle  of,  298. 

Fall  River,  Mass.,  26,  137. 

Faneuil  Hall,  172. 

Farragut,  Admiral,  303,  313. 

Fifteenth  Amendment,  The,  326. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  President,  280. 

Fitch,  John,  241. 

Five  Nations,  The,  127,  150. 

Flag,  United  States,  199. 

Florida,  42,   47,  52,  77,  126,  128,   129, 

253,  254,  263,  264,  289. 
"  Flying  Machine,"  The,  106. 
Flynt,  Alice,  78. 
Forrest,  General,  311. 
Fort  Donelson,  302. 
Fort  Du  Quesne,  152,  154,  177. 
Fort  Fisher,  3 16. 
Fort  Hatteras,  297. 
Fort  Moultrie,  290,  291. 
Fort  Pillow  Massacre,  311,  319. 
Fort  Pulaski,  302. 
Fort  St.  George,  53. 
Fort  Sumter,  290,  291,  293. 
Fort  Wagner,  310. 


Fortress  Monroe,  236. 

Foster,  General,  315. 

Fox,  C.  J.,  174. 

Foxes,  The,  263. 

Franklin,  Dr.  Benjamin,  151,  194,  195, 

206,  227,  328. 
Frederic  City,  M  1     2515. 
Fredericksburg,  Va.,  300. 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  324. 
Freesoil  Party,  279,  280. 
Fremont,  Gen    J.  C,  277,  305. 
Fiend)  and  Indian  Wars,  139,  141. 
Frietchie,  Barbara,  299. 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  281. 
Fulton,  Robert,  241. 


G. 

GADSDEN  PURCHASE,  THE,  284. 

Gage,  General,  166,  178,  183,  184. 

Garner,  Margaret,  281. 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  264,  265,  268. 

"Gaspee,"  The,  169. 

Gates,  General,  206. 

Geneva  Tribunal,  The,  326. 

"  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation," 

The,  264. 
Georgia,    127,   129,   130,   159,  226,  234, 

253,  264,  289,  290. 
Gettysburg,  Penn.,  Battle  of,  306. 
Gillmore,  General,  310 
Goffe,  William,  138. 
Gorton,  Samuel,  78. 
Gosnold,  Bartholomew,  51. 
Grant,  U.  S.,  President,  302,  311,  312, 

3 16,  326. 

Gray,  Capt.  Robert,  246. 
Great  March,  The,  315. 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  229. 
Greene,  Mrs.,  226. 
Greene,  Gen.  N.,  183. 
Greenland,  89. 
Grierson,  Colonel,  308. 
Groton,  Mass.,  174. 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  Treaty  of,  277, 284. 
Gudrid,  29. 

"  Guerriere,"  The,  249. 
Guilford,  Conn.,  Old  House  in,  77. 


H. 

HADLEY,  MASS.,  137,  138. 

"  Half-Moon,"  The,  88. 

Halifax,  N.S.,  192. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  215,  221,  242. 

Hancock,  John,  179,  197. 

Harper's  Ferry,  Va.,  286,  287,288. 


366 


YOUNG    FOLKS     UNITED    STATES. 


Harrison,  W*  H.,  President,  249,  267, 

269.  270. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  71,  96,  175,  249. 
Hartford  Convention,  The,  249. 
Harvard  University,  86,  118,  184. 
Havana,  39. 
Haverhill,  Mass.,  144. 
Hawley,  Major,  176. 
Hawthorne,  N.,  328. 
Heights  of  Abraham,  The,  155. 
Henry,  Patrick,  163,  164,  176. 
Hertel  de  Rouville,  146. 
Hessians,  The,  193,  203. 
Hiawatha,  Legend  of,  18. 
Higginson,  Rev.  Francis,  62,  63. 
H.gginson,  Rev.  John,  87. 
Hooker,  Gen.  J.,  72,  306,  309. 
Hopeton,  O.,  Mounds  at,  7. 
Hosmer,  Harriet,  328. 
Howe,  General,  185,  192. 
Hudson,  Henry,  88. 
Hudson  River,  90,  150,  181,209,24 
Hudson's  Bay,  42. 
Huguenots,  The,  125. 
Hull,  General,  249. 
Humphreys,  General,  317. 
Hunter,  Gen.  David,  303,304,  310. 
Hurlgate,  70,  91. 
Hurons,  The,  13. 
Hutchinson,  Anne,  70. 
Hutchinson,  Chief  Justice,  165,  172. 


,270. 


I. 


ICELAND,  27,  31. 

Illinois,  255,  270,  289. 

Illinois  River,  139,  244. 

Impeachment    of    President    Johnson, 

325- 

Inauguration  Ball,  224. 
India,  Voyages  in  Search  of,  33,  4?,  47, 

49- 

Indiana,  252,  256. 
Indians,  American,  14,  89,  91,  93,  96,  103, 

106,  115,  131,  139,  142,  151,  154,  177. 
ndians,  American,  Wars  with,  131,  142. 
owa,  278,  283. 
roquois,  The.  13. 
rvin?,  W.,  328. 
.land  No.  10,  302. 
les  of  Shoals,  115. 


J- 


JACKSON,    ANDREW,   PRESIDENT,   251, 

253,  262,  263,  265,  306. 
Jp.cksonviile,  Fla.,  310. 


Jamaica,  37. 

James  River,  The,  113,  117. 

Jamestown,  Va.,  50,  no,  113,  116,  117, 

'3y- 

Jay,  John,  220 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  President,  183,  196, 

221,  231,  235,  239,  241,  243,  255. 
Jerry  Rescue,  281. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  President,  323,  324. 
Johnston,  Gen.  A.  S.,  .-,02. 
Jones,  Capt.  John  Paul,  200,  207. 

K. 

KANSAS,  282,  284,  286. 
Kearny,  Gen.  Stephen,  277. 
"  Kearsarge,"  The,  312. 
Kennebec  River,  53,  57. 
Kent  Island,  Md.,  121. 
Kentucky,  229,  230,  231,  252. 
Kieft,  William,  96. 
Kilpatrick,  General,  310. 
King  George's  War,  143. 
King  Philip's  War,  137,  138. 
King  William's  War,  143. 
King's  Collegers. 
Know-Nothing  Party,  285. 
Kosciuszko,  General,  20, ,. 


L. 


LABRADOR,  41. 

La  FaVettc,  General,  205,  256. 
plani,  67. 
250,  260,  285. 
Lake  Michigan,  243. 
Lake  Superior,  9. 
Lane,  Gen.  J.  H.,  283,  306. 
La  Salle,  244,  271. 
Lawrence,  Captain,  249. 
"  Lawrence,"  The,  250. 
Lawrence,  Kan.,  284. 
Lee,  Gen.  R.  E.,  189,  299,  318. 
Lee,  Richard  Henry,  195. 
Leif  the  Lucky,  28. 

Lewis  and  Clark's  Expedition,  245,  273. 
Lewistown,  Del.,  First  School  for  Girls, 

ios. 

Lexington,  Mass.,  178,  181,  196. 
Leyden,  133. 
"  Liberator,"  The,  264. 
"  Liberty  and  Property,"  165. 
Liberty  Party,  273,  279. 
Liberty-Tree,  165,  166. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  President,  289,  294, 

303,  320,  322. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,   President,  Extract 

from  Inaugural  Address,  320. 


INDEX. 


Lincoln,  Abraham,  President,  Extract 

from  Gettysburg  Address,  329. 
Livingston,  R.  R.,  196. 
Locke,  John,  125. 
"  Log-Cabin  Candidate,"  269. 
London  Company,  The,  52. 
Longfellow,  H.  W.,  18,  26,  328. 
Long  Island,  71,  96. 


ountam,  Tenn.,  Battle    of, 


Long  River,  230. 

akout   Mi 
309- 


Lool 


Louisburg,  148,  176,  177. 

Louisiana  Purchase,  230,  244,  266,  278, 

282,  292. 

Louisiana,  State  of,  253,  280,  289,  293. 
Lovejoy,  Rev.  E.  P.,  268. 
Lundy,  Benjamin,  264. 
Lyon,  Gen.  N.,  297. 


M. 

MCCLELLAN,  GEN.  G.  B ,  296,  297,  299, 

300. 

McDowell,  General,  296. 
Madison,  James,  President,  248,  253. 
Maine,  52,  65,  83,  87,  115,  137,  209,  255, 

257,  270. 

Malvern  Hills,  Va.,  Battle  of,  298. 
Mammoth,  The,  2. 
Mandans,  The,  246. 
Manhattan  Island,  91,  99. 
Mann,  Horace,  281. 
Maps,  Early,  j«»,  -.3,  49>  *v* 
Marblehead,  Mass.,  148,  174. 
Marietta,  O.,  Mounds  at,  10. 
Marion,  G 

264. 
Maryland,  42,  70,  121,  122,  123,  159, 160, 

165,  285,  2,)5. 
Massachusetts,  The,  13. 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  60,  72,  74, 

200. 
Massachusetts,  8 r,  93,  96,  106,  136,  148, 

'50,  164,  T73,  178,  183,   195,  214,  226, 

231,  240,  257,  259,  295. 
Mason,  Capt.  J.  134. 
Mison,  J.  M.,  298. 
Mason  and  Dixon's  Line,  123. 
Mastodon,  The,  2. 
"  Mayflower,"  The,  56,  57,  59,  61. 
M;iyhe\vs,  The,  136. 
Meade,  Gen.  G.  G.,  306. 
Med,  a  Slave-Child,  268. 
Medford,  Mass.,  179. 
"  Merrimack"  and  "  Monitor,"  Contest 

of,  300. 

Merrimack  River,  145. 
Merry  Mount,  74. 
Mexican  War,  273,  280,  281,  284. 


Mexico,  44,  50,  277,  276,  284. 

Mexico,  Gulf  of,  244. 

Michigan,  266. 

Minnesota^  292. 

Mississippi,  6,  7,  12,  156,  234,  257. 

Mississippi   River,    139,   230,    234,  243, 

2^4,  252,  293. 

Missouri,  255,  270,  283,  286,  297. 
Missouri  Compromise,  The,  256,  282. 
Missouri  River,  283. 
Mobile  Bay,  Naval  Action  in,  313. 
Mohegans,  The,  13. 
"  Monitor,"  The,  300. 
Monitors,  310,  314. 
Monongahela,  The,  152. 
Monroe,  James,  President,  248,  253. 
Montcalm,  General,  155. 
Monterey,  Battle  of,  2/5. 
Monterey,  Cal.,  277. 
Montgomery,  General,  283. 
Morgan,  General,  308. 
Mormon?,  The,  270,  282. 
Morosa,  a  Name  for  Virginia,  51. 
Morse,  Prof.  S.  F.  B.,  273,  328. 
Morton,  W.  T.  G.,  328. 
Mound-Builders,  The,  14. 
Mount  Hope,  137. 


N. 

"  NARRAGANSETTS,"  THE,  13,  26,  69, 

138. 

Narragansett  Bay,  169. 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  302. 
Natick,  Mass.,  Indian  Village  at,  136. 
National  Road,  The,  252. 
Nauvoo,  111.,  270. 
Nebraska,  282,  284,  325. 
Nevada,  325. 
New  Amsterdam,  91,  93. 
New  Brunswick,  270. 
New  Hampshire,  66,  67,  83,  115,  148, 

159,  183,  206,  229,  268. 
New  Haven,  Conn.,  72,  87. 
New  Jersey,  98,  99,  140,  159,  203. 
New  Mexico,  10,  277,  282,  284. 
New   Netherlands,   72,  91,   93,   95,  97, 

107. 

New  Orleans,  La.,  150, 251,  252,  262,  303. 
New  Sweden,  107,  108. 
New  York,  67,  72,  98,  127,  140  159,  165, 

196,  198,  215,  229,  260,  267,  270,  272, 

280,  2QS. 

New  York,  City  of,  44,  91,  103,  106,  166, 

I73,   199,202,203,    211,    212,    217,    2l8, 

241,  260,  295. 

Newfoundland,  156. 

Newport,  R.I.,  25,  26,  44,  169,  tn« 

Newport,  Captain,  no. 


368 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


Niagara,  154. 

North  Carolina, 44, 159, 179,215,231,291. 
Northampton,  Mass.,  176. 
Northmen,  The,  25,  26,  28. 
North-west   Territory,   The,   231,   243, 

266,  279. 

Nova  Scotia.  29,  44,  148,  177. 
Nueces  River,  274. 

o. 

OGI.ETHORPE,  GEN.  JAMES,  127. 

Ohio,  6,  149,  152,  248,  252. 

Ohio  River,  139,  231,  253. 

Old  French  and  Indian  War,  The,  151. 

Old  Stone  Mill  at  Newport,  R.I.,  25. 

Old  Point  Comfort,  Va.,  113. 

Old  South  Church,  Boston,  172. 

Oliver,  Andrew,  165. 

"  Onrust,"  or  "  Unrest,"  The,  91. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  231,  254,  266. 

Oregon,  273,  292. 

Orleans,  Territory  of,  253. 

Osceola,  264. 

Ossawattomie,  Kan.,  283. 

Otis,  James,  164. 

P. 

PACIFIC  RAIIAVAY,  THE,  327. 

Pacific  Ocean,  The,  n,  43. 

Page,  William,  328. 

Paine,  Thomas,  195,  241. 

Palo  Alto,  Battle  of,  274. 

Patroons,  92,  270. 

Parker,  Capt.  John,  179. 

Parker,  Theod'ore,  28!. 

Penn,  William,  101,  139,  140,  141. 

Pennsylvania,   101,  104,   107,   123,    139, 

140,  159,  195,  203. 

Pennsylvania  Hall,  Burning  of,  268. 
"  Pennsylvania  Journal,"  The,  199. 
Pepperrel),  Gen.  William,  148. 
Pequots,  The,  13. 
Percy,  Lord,  182. 
Perry,  Com.  M.  C.,  276,  284. 
Perry,  Com.  O.  H.,  250. 
Phelps  Gen.  J.  W.,  303. 
Philadelphia,  Penn.,  98,  103,   105,  151, 

173,    176,   194,  200,    204,    212,    215,    224, 

227,  232. 

"  Philadelphia,"  The,  237. 
Phillips,  Wendell,  281. 
Pierce,  Franklin,  President,  282. 
Pilgrims,  The,  56,  63,  67,  131 
Pinckney,  C.  C.,  233. 
Pine  Tree  Flag,  The,  200. 
Pitcairn,  Major,  179. 


Pitt,  William,  Earl  of  Chatham,  165. 

Pittsburg,  Penn.,  152. 

PittsburR  Landing.  Tenn.,  Battle  of,  302. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  115. 

Plymouth,    Mass.,   Colony,   55,   62,  64, 

Plymouth  Company,  52. 

Pocahontas,  115. 

Polk,  James  K.,  President,  273. 

Pontiac,  249. 

Poor  Richard's  Almanack,  227. 

Popham,  George,  his  Colony,  53. 

Port  Hudson,  Surrender  of,  308. 

Porter,  Com.  David,  250. 

Port  Royal,  S.C.,  124,  297. 

Porto  Rico,  37. 

Portsmouth,  N.H.,  66,  67,  87. 

Potatoes,  Introduction  of,  52. 

Potomac,  241. 

Powers,  H.,  328. 

Powhatan,  1 15. 

Prescott,  General,  183,  184,  185. 

Preston,  Captain,  168. 

Price,  Dr.,  195. 

Princeton,  N.J.,  100,  204. 

Pring,  Martin,  66. 

Privateers,  Confederate,  312. 

Provincial  Congress,  178,  186. 

Providence,  R.I.,  69,  169,  170. 

Pueblo  Indians,  The,  10. 

Pulaski,  General,  205. 

Puritans,  The,  15,62,63,  Si,  85,  104,  122, 

136,  138. 
Putnam,  Gen.  Israel,  177,  183,  184,  185, 

186,  187,  191. 


Q- 


QUAKERS,  THE,  80,  81,99,  Io6>  "9> 

140. 

Quebec,  150,  155;,  156,  177. 
Queen  Anne's  War,  143. 
Quincy,  Josiah,  240. 


R. 

RAFN,  PROFESSOR,  25. 

Railroad,  First  American,  260. 

Ramsey,  James,  241. 

Rebellion,  War  of  the,  285,  291,  293. 

Reconstruction  Acts,  324. 

Red  River  Expedition,  The,  310. 

"Redeemed  Captive,"  The,  147. 

Reed,  Adjutant-General,  199,  207. 

Republican  Party,  279,  285,  289. 

Resaca  de  la  Palma,  274. 

Revere,  Paul,  179. 


INDEX. 


369 


Revolutionary  War,  159,  207,  221,  228, 

232,  241,  253,  259. 
Rhode  Island,  29,  68,  70,  74,  83,  84,  87, 

138,  159,  165.  '73,  183,  191,  215,  270. 
Ribault,  Jean,  124. 
Richmond,  Va.,  296,  317. 
Rio  Grande,  The,  274,  277. 
Roanoke  Island,  51,  302. 
Robinson,  Rev.  John,  56,  133. 
Rocky  Mountains,  244,  245. 
Rosecrans,  General,  308. 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  62. 


s. 

SACRAMKNTO  RIVER,  277,  278. 

Sacs,  The,  263. 

St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  43,  50,  126,  129,  271. 

St.  Lawrence,  The,  49. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  246. 

"St.  Mary's,  Pilgrims  of,"  121. 

St.  Simon's  Island,  129. 

Salem,  Mass.,  61,  62,  63,  87,  95. 

Salt  Licks,  Ky.,  230. 

Sandy  Hook,  89. 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  278. 

Sanitary  Commission,  The,  318. 

San  Juan  d'Ulloa,  276. 

Santa  Anna,  General,  275. 

Saratoga,  N.V.,  206. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  128,  129,  212,  226. 

Saxton,  Gen.  Rufus,  306. 

Schoolcraft,  H.  R.,  19. 

Schuyler,  Philip,  189. 

Schuylkill  River,  The,  201. 

Scott,  Gen.  Winfield,  206,  263,  275,  296, 

297. 

Seguin,  7r. 

Semmes,  Captain,  313. 
Seminoles,  The,  253,  263. 
"  Serapis,"  The,  207,  208. 
"  Seven  Days'  Battles,  The,"  298. 
Sewall,  Chief  Justice,  82,  87. 
Seward,  W.  H.,  322,  327. 
Seymour,  General,  310. 
Sh'adrach  Rescue,  The,  281. 
Shaw,  Colonel,  312. 
Shay's  Rebellion,  214. 
"  Shenandoah,"  The,  312. 
Sheridan,  Gen.  P.  H.,  312,  316,  317,318. 
Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T.,  309,  311,  315. 
Shoshones,  The,  246. 
Six  Nations,  The,  13,  127,  150. 
"Skeleton  in  Armor,"  The,  26. 
Skraelings,  Thr*,  2q. 
Slavery,  American,  87,  92,  104,  117,  123, 

126,  268,  271,  279,  280. 
Slidell,  J.,  298. 
Smith,  Capt.  J.,  58,  65,  iio,  114,  116. 

24 


Smith,  Joseph,  270. 

South  Carolina,  52,  129,  159,  173,  208, 

238,  262,  263,  265.  289,  290,  297. 
South  Mountain,  Va.,  Battle  of,  299. 
"Speedwell,"  The,  56,  57. 
Spencer,  General,  183. 
Stamp  Act,  The,  161,  162,  163,  165,  166. 
Standish,  Lora  50. 
Standish,  Capt.  Miles,  58,  59,  78,  133. 
Stanton,  E.  M.,  327. 
Stark,  Gen.  John,  183,  205,  206. 
Stark,  Molly,  206. 
"Star  of  the  West,"  The,  290. 
State  Rights,  28q. 
Staten  Island,  91. 
Stephens,  A.  H.,  290,  291. 
Steuben,  General,  205. 
Stillwater,  N.Y.,  Battle  of,  206. 
Stockton,  Commodore,  277. 
Stomngton,  Conn.,  134. 
Stony  Mountains,  The,  246. 
Stony  Point,  N.Y.,  Storming  of,  207. 
Story,  W.  W.,  328. 
Stuyvesant,  Peter,  97,  108 
Suffrage,  Universal,  239,  327. 
Sumner,  Charles,  281,  327. 
Sumter,  Gen.  Thomas,  208. 
Sutler,  Captain.  278. 
Snorn,  29. 
Sylvama,  102. 

T. 

TARIFF,  THE.  261,  262. 

Tayior,  Zachary,  President, 274, 275,280. 

Tea-party,  Boston,  172. 

Tecumseh,  249,  269. 

Tennessee,  230,  231,  291. 

"Tennessee,"  The,  314. 

Terry,  Gen.  A.  H.,  6:6 

Texas,  267,  268,  271,  277,  289. 

"  The  Selling  of  Joseph,"  a  tract,  87. 

Thomas,  General,  309. 

Thompson,  John,  Hatter,  197. 

Ticonderoga,  154, 205. 

"Tiger,"  The,  91. 

Tippecanoe,  O.,  249,  269. 

Tobacco,  Introduction  of,  52. 

Toleration,  Religious,  68,  99,  103,  122, 

216. 

Tories,  The,  176. 
Townshend,  Charles,  162. 
Treaties,  19,  151,  156,  206,  213,  220,  233, 

237,  251,  254,  277,  284,  326. 
Trenton,  N.J.,  203,  217. 
Tri-mountain,  62. 
Turner,  Nat,  265. 
Tuscaroras,  The,  126. 
Tyier,  John,  269,  270,  271. 
Tyrker,  28. 


370 


YOUNG  FOLKS'  UNITED  STATES. 


u. 

UNDERBILL,  CAPTAIN,  134. 
United  Colonies,  177,  196. 
United  States,  199,  215. 
United  States  Constitution,  215. 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  105. 
Upper  California,  277. 
Utah,  271,  282. 

V. 

VALLEY  FORGE,  Penn.,  204,  206. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  President,  267,  268, 
269. 

Van  Rensselaer,  General,  249. 

Vera  Cruz,  Mexico,  275,  276. 

Vermont,  67,  83,  206,  229. 

Verrazzano,  44,  45. 

Vespucius,  Americus,  37. 

Vicksburg,  Miss.,  304,  307. 

Vinland,  29,  31,  33,  34. 

Virginia,  51,  52,  53,  56,  86,  106,  109,  no, 
139,  152,  iS4,  i59)  163,  164,  175,  189, 
»9°,  !95>  t96>  217,  229,  230,233,234, 
236,  240,  248,  253,  254,  265,  270,  286, 
288,  291,  296,  297. 


W. 

WADSWORTH,  WILLIAM,  83,  84. 
Walking  Purchase,  The,  141. 
Wampanoags,  13. 
Warner,  Seth,  229. 
Ward,  Gen.  Artemas,  183,  189. 
Warren,  Gen.  G.  K.,  317. 
Warren,  Gen.  Joseph,  177,  184,  185. 
Washington,    George,    President,    149, 
150,  152,   153,  154,  177,  189,  190,  191, 

192,    211,   212,    214,    215,   217,218,220, 


221,    222,    224,    225,    226,    229,231,    233, 
239.  255,  283,  286,  283,  295,  296,  297. 

Washington,  Mrs.  Martha,  223. 

Washington,  D.C.,  232,  251. 

Watertown,  Mass.,  69. 

Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony,  207. 

Webster,  Daniel,  270,  281. 

Weitzel,  Gen.  G.,  317. 

"  Welcome,"  The,  102. 

Wentworth,  Benning,  67. 

Wesley,  Rev.  Charles,  129. 

Wesley,  Rev.  John,  129. 

West  Point,  N.Y.,  209,  210. 

West  Virginia,  325. 

Whalley,  Richard,  138. 

Wheeling,  Va.,  252. 

White,  Peregrine,  59. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  120. 

Whitfield,  Rev.  Henry,  7  3. 

Whitney,  Eli,  226. 

Whittier,  J.  G.,  299,  328. 

William  and  Mary  College,  1 18. 

Williams,  Rev.  John,  146. 

Williams,  Rev.  Roger,  68,  70,  134. 
!  Wilmot  Proviso,  The,  279. 
j  Windham,  Conn.,  174. 
I  Windsor,  Conn.,  71. 
I  Wmslow,  Captain,  138. 

Wimhrop,  John,  62,  63,  64,  67,  69. 

Wisconsin,  278,  279. 

Wise,  Governor,  288. 

Wolfe,  General,  155,  162. 

vVorcester,  Mass.,  178. 

Worden,  Commodore,  301. 

Wyoming,  Penn.,  207. 


YALE  COLLEGE,  86,  226. 
York  River,  211. 
Yorktown,  Va.,  211,  212. 
Young,  Brigham,  282. 


UNIFORM  WITH  THE  "BOOK  OP  AMERICAN  EXPLORERS, 


YOUNG   FOLKS' 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

BY 

THOMAS   WENTWORTH   HIGGINSON. 
Square  i6mo.    380  pp.    With  over  100  Illustrations.    Price  $1.50. 


The  theory  of  the  bock  can  be  briefly  stated:  it  is,  that  American  history  it  in 
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AS  A  TEXT-BOOK   IN   SCHOOLS 

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The  YOUNG  FOLKS'  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  EXPLORERS  :s  as* 
distinctly  a  "new  departure"  in  our  historical  literature  as  was 
its  predecessor,  the  "Young  Folks'  History  of  the  United 
States."  The  "Book  of  American  Explorers"  is  a  series  of 
narratives  of  discovery  and  adventure,  told  in  the  precise  words 
of  the  discoverers  themselves.  It  is  a  series,  of  racy  and  inter 
esting  extracts  from  original  narratives,  or  early  translations  of 
such  narratives.  These  selections  are  made  with  care,  so  as  to 
give  a  glimpse  at  the  various  nationalities  engaged,  —  Norsei 
Spanish,  French,  Dutch,  English,  etc.,  —  and  are  put  together  in 
order  of  time,  with  the  needful  notes  and  explanations.  The 
ground  covered  may  be  seen  by  the  following  list  of  subjects 
treated  in  successive  chapters  :  —  The  Traditions  of  the  Norse- 
men;  Columbus  and  his  Companions;  Cabot  and  Verrazzano  ; 
The  Strange  Voyage  of  Cabeza  de  Vaca ;  The  French  in  Canada  ; 
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Gilbert ;  The  Lost  Colonies  of  Virginia ;  Unsuccessful  New 
England  Settlements  ;  Captain  John  Smith  in  Virginia  ;  Cham- 
plain  on  the  War-Path ;  Henry  Hudson  and  the  New  Nether 
lands  ;  The  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth ;  The  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony. 

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people  to  explore  for  themselves  the  rich  mine  of  historical 
adventure  thus  laid  open. 

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